Football, Lecce seeks feat: heart-pounding salvation operation

LECCE - Everything in ninety minutes. Lecce's fate will depend on the away match at the Olimpico against Lazio, a match valid for the last day of the championship. On one side there is the dream of the historic third consecutive salvation in Serie A. On the other there is the abyss of relegation to Serie B. In the middle, also the hypothesis of a play-off for permanence in the top flight. Everything will depend on the results of the last round of the championship, with only one certainty: Lecce, beating Lazio, would be mathematically safe, regardless of what happens on the other pitches.

Yes, because there are many crossed destinies in this last round. The Giallorossi will take to the field at the Olimpico while Empoli will host Hellas Verona and Venezia will face Juventus at home. Without forgetting Parma, who will visit Atalanta. Calculations, combinations and combinations, which in the case of Lecce could be wasted in the event of a negative result against Lazio. The Salento team reached the capital already on Thursday afternoon, carrying out an early retreat to best prepare for the challenge against the Biancocelesti of the great former Marco Baroni. Coach Marco Giampaolo, speaking through the club's official channels, takes stock of the situation on the approach to tonight's big event: «We spent a week in the best way to prepare for a very important match, between the training sessions held in Lecce and those in Rome. We want to be competitive and have our say until the end. Looking at the situation with the bowls still, if the championship had finished last Sunday we would now be in the play-off. This means that ultimately we are all there. We know that we will have to face a very strong team, but we must not look at the opponent's identity card, it will take a game with great spirit. We must not do favors to anyone, we must make life difficult for all the teams that are fighting for the same objective as us". The Giallorossi coach focuses solely on the performance of his team: "I think that our opponents will be more committed to watching what we do, rather than the other way around. They will be the ones asking what Lecce is doing. We have no alternatives, in fact, we have very few. We must play our game without looking at what is happening elsewhere. Playing based on the results of others would be wrong, it would mean not being focused on our own game".

What is certain is that Lecce will have a packed away sector on their side, ready to push Baschirotto and his teammates towards the feat: «The fans have always been there throughout the year, their massive presence in this match is not in question». As for the lineup choices, Giampaolo managed to recover Pierret during the week, who suffered from functional fatigue, while Rebic's conditions are still causing concern, as he suffered from soreness in his right ankle and also did differentiated work in yesterday's training session. The Giallorossi coach glosses over the use of the Croatian and browses through the list of alternatives in the middle of the field: «Rebic and Krstovic together could represent a solution, but I don't know... in midfield we recover Pierret, but Ramadani is fine. The choices will be functional to the match that awaits us, also depending on the characteristics of the opponent. There are many considerations to make». Up front, the suspended Morente will be missing, but Giampaolo has no shortage of solutions: «Both Banda and Karlsson will play, one of the two will start while the other will come on. In that role, it will be a costly match, we will need both».

The Giallorossi were busy yesterday morning in the finishing session at the Mancini Park Hotel in Rome in preparation for tonight's match against Lazio. After an initial warm-up, the players carried out technical and tactical exercises and a small-sided match. Giampaolo was able to count on the entire group at his disposal, with the sole exception of Rebic, who did some personalized work.