Sarri Admits Being ‘Terrified’ by Olimpico Return, Confirms Lazio Defender’s Omission

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The Laziali

·1 September 2025

Sarri Admits Being ‘Terrified’ by Olimpico Return, Confirms Lazio Defender’s Omission

Maurizio Sarri was given a warm welcome by the Lazio supporters upon his return to the Stadio Olimpico. However, the manager had feared things could have gone awry.

Lazio Back to Winning Ways with Maurizio Sarri

The Italian capital side was coming off a disappointing defeat Como on the opening day of the season. They were also without a home win in Serie A for seven months. But luckily for the returning manager, his men produced a masterclass against Hellas Verona to dispel the curse, pummeling their visitors by four unanswered goals.

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Sarri Opens up on Stadio Olimpico Return

In his post-match interview (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), Sarri admits being moved by the fans’ affection, albeit he was worried about letting them down with an unworthy performance.

Emotionally, it was thrilling to return. Seeing the stadium at the start of the match and the Curva cheering you on after the 2-0 defeat was something powerful. However, inside me there was also the terror of not being able to bring home a win after seven months. For our supporters, going six or seven months without a home win was tough.

What Changed Between Como & Hellas Verona

The Lazio boss explained what his team did differently this time, while insisting that the players still have major improvements to make in order to reach the required levels.

We got the game off the ground quickly, putting everything we’d been working on into play. In the first 20 minutes, we put in a great performance; I saw my players attacking the spaces more than usual. But just like the bad performance from last week, you have to take the good displays with a pinch of salt. There’s a lot of work to do, and we have some players who must make a step-up like Dele-Bashiru and Belahyane. We have a lot of players who can grow, like Cancellieri. We need to grow as a team and as individuals.

(Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images)

Taty Castellanos was the main star of the show, scoring a goal and producing two assists. However, Sarri urges him to improve his finishing so he can grab more strikes.

I’d ask Castellanos to start scoring more goals. He usually scores good goals, but I think he has the potential to net even more. He had a great performance, he’s improving his fitness, so let’s see where he can be in a month or two.

Sarri Confirms Samuel Gigot’s Squad Exclusion

The manager also revealed that Samuel Gigot will be one of the two players who will be omitted from the Serie A squad list. The French defender has been heavily linked with the exit door, but Sarri claims that the issue is rather physical.

One of the omissions will be Gigot who is a long-term patient. We’re not sure if he’ll recover. We’ll decide on the other on Monday, but it might not be a definitive decision, as we can make two changes between now and December.

Tijjani Noslin Will Have a Role to Play at Lazio

As for Tijjani Noslin, Sarri admitted he’s still trying to figure out his best role, but he’s keen to keep him as Boulaye Dia will likely leave for the African Cup of Nations.

I’m having a bit of trouble defining Noslin. Based on training, he looks like a winger, sometimes like a second striker. He’s got pace, a good attitude, so I think he can help us out as a winger too. We have a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads because if Dia leaves for the Africa Cup of Nations, as I expect him too, having Noslin in the squad would be crucial. He has a goal-scoring instinct, I’ve seen it in training too. I wanted to play him in the final half hour, but then Marusic asked to be replaced.

Reda Belahyane’s Role

Finally, the Lazio head coach explained why Reda Belahyane is more suited to the box-to-box position than the deep-lying playmaker role.

I expected a slower player, but instead he has decent acceleration, especially over 20 meters. At the moment, he’s too chaotic to be a Regista. He surprised me because he’s not bad at all in terms of his insertions.