Ancelotti Fears Lazio Backlash
Wednesday 14th March 2001
As Juventus prepare for their crucial top-of-the-table clash with Lazio at
the weekend, manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted that the prospect of facing
Dino Zoff's men at the Stadio Olimpico was not a happy one. "I fear Lazio,"
he said. "It's highly unlikely they'll slip up two games in a row."
Second-placed Juventus take on the Italian champions in the full knowledge
that defeat will see Lazio claw to within two points of them, and hand Roma
the opportunity to extend their six-point gap at the top of the league.
"I fear Lazio," he said. "It's highly unlikely they'll slip up two games in
a row. I'm not thinking about Roma. I am thinking about my team.
"We have to win and not worry about the others. We will see about them at
the end of the season."
The Turin giants only narrowly defeated lowly Reggina on Sunday, and, in a
scrappy game, Zinedine Zidane was picked out for particular criticism from
sections of the Italian press. But Ancelotti defended his French playmaker.
"I'm happy about our defence and I'm not worried about Zidane. Everybody is
saying that he isn't any good any more. But I think he has played very
well."
Ancelotti also had words of praise for his opposite number at Roma, Fabio
Capello, who he feels has done a superb job in convincing his players and,
it seems, the rest of the country that his side are the champions-elect.
"I have to congratulate Capello - a great manager," he said. "He gives the
impression that he is a certainty to win the Scudetto. So his players are
more confident, because the manager believes in them."
