Sarri on ‘amazing’ Lazio goalkeeper and fan hope for Coppa Italia Final
Sarri on ‘amazing’ Lazio goalkeeper and fan hope for Coppa Italia Final Maurizio Sarri hails ‘amazing’ goalkeeper Edoardo Motta after a penalty shoot-out win over Atalanta, and hopes Lazio fans suspend their boycott for the Coppa Italia Final with Inter on May 13. It was a dramatic semi-final overall, as at no point were Atalanta leading, with Lazio twice throwing away a lead in the first leg, and doing the same in Bergamo. Within two minutes of Alessio Romagnoli’s volley, Mario Pasalic’s deflected effort had drawn them level again, 1-1 on the night, 3-3 on aggregate.
Unable to be separated during extra time either, it went to a shoot-out, and Edoardo Motta was the hero by saving four penalties in a row. Even before that, his fingertip save to push a Gianluca Scamacca header onto the upright forced extra time. Sarri feels Lazio deserve Final BERGAMO, ITALY – APRIL 22: Alessio Romagnoli of Lazio celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammates during the Coppa Italia semifinal match between Atalanta BC and SS Lazio at New Balance Arena on April 22, 2026 in Bergamo, Italy.
(Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images) “Tonight’s game was extremely complicated, a knockout tie against a strong side in a stadium that is tough to play in for most European teams,” Sarri told Sport Mediaset. “This has been a great journey for us, we eliminated both last season’s Finalists Milan and Bologna, then tonight a wonderful opponent like Atalanta. It has been a tough, complicated campaign, and we achieved this satisfaction of reaching the Final.
” This was a fixture that could salvage their season, because not only are Lazio now in the Coppa Italia Final against Inter on May 13 on home turf, but it also guarantees qualification for the Supercoppa Italiana Final Four. Winning the trophy would also give them direct access to the Europa League for next season. BERGAMO, ITALY – APRIL 22: Tijjani Noslin and Manuel Lazzari of Lazio celebrate with teammates during the penalty shoot out in the Coppa Italia semifinal match between Atalanta BC and SS Lazio at New Balance Arena on April 22, 2026 in Bergamo, Italy.
(Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images) “We’ve had a problem all season, which is that we struggle to score goals. The team has become solid and tough to play against, but we don’t find it easy to get the ball in the back of the net,” added Sarri. The coach had said in January he did not agree with Lazio’s decision to sell Christos Mandas, but when Ivan Provedel suffered a season-ending injury, 21-year-old mid-season signing Motta really stepped up.