As the Italian media build big expectation for Lazio’s match against Celtic tomorrow, they spoke to someone knows both Italian and Scottish football very well… and was once a big rival of Celtic at Rangers.
TVPlay managed to hold an interview with former Rangers defender Lorenzo Amoruso, who had a lot to say about his Glasgow rivals.
The 52-year-old started by insisting that Lazio are stronger than Celtic, even though the Scottish side playing at home should give them a big boost in this match. That’s a fair comment and unlikely to be purely motivated by his time at Ibrox with Rangers.
“I say yes, definitely. The values are different, Lazio is stronger. We just need to understand this Lazio better, a start to the season in which it is not able to show its strength through performance and not only through results,” Amoruso told TVPlay.
“Lazio is not living up to expectations, this has to be underlined. Celtic, in any case, are certainly inferior, but they will have the support of 57-58 thousand spectators who will push the team. There are Lazio players who are used to these matches, but everything is easy to talk about.”
The former Rangers player also highlighted that Lazio will need ‘attitude’ to play at Celtic Park, as being the better team may not be enough for a win there.
“In Glasgow, and I know something about it, it’s not easy to play as an opponent and the home team always benefits, there’s little to say. If Lazio don’t have the right attitude, thinking that quality is enough to overpower Celtic’s agonism, then they could have problems.”
In the Champions League’s opening round, Lazio drew 1-1 with Atletico Madrid. Celtic, meanwhile, lost 2-0 to Feyenoord, and need a win to recover now, or the chances of getting through the knock-out stage will start looking quite difficult.
The Hoops come from two wins in a row, against Livingston and Motherwell, and that should be a boost for Brendan Rodgers’ side before such an important home clash.
Amoruso, though, given his Rangers past, will obviously hope it doesn’t go well.
