Rome derby not on Lazio´s radar, says Pioli

Stefano Pioli insists Lazio will not allow their derby with Roma on May 24 to distract them in the race for second place in Serie A.

Roma moved back ahead of Lazio on Sunday after a 2-0 win over Genoa, while Pioli’s side were held 1-1 by relegation-threatened Atalanta.

The two Rome-based clubs are separated by just one point with four games remaining and meet at the Stadio Olimpico in the penultimate round of fixtures – a match that is likely to go a long way to deciding who claims automatic qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

“We have games before the derby and must try to win them too,” he told Sky Sport Italia. “Nobody expected us to be here at this stage, so we’ll take it one game at a time.

“I got very positive signals from this performance [against Atalanta], as even without being at 100 per cent we still got a precious point and are still up there.

“It was clear we weren’t sharp today, but we still had very clear scoring opportunities and ran a few too many risks, as we struggled to break clear.

“We had difficulties because Atalanta attacked us in a very aggressive way and we didn’t move enough.

“It was a great performance in terms of character and a point that shows our maturity, as we were not in good shape physically today and still fought to the end for victory.”