Gattuso: 'There is no pressure on us against Napoli'

Gennaro Gattuso insisted that Lazio are under no pressure whatsoever ahead of Sunday's crucial match against Napoli. The Italian head coach also said he would consider himself lucky if he could achieve even a quarter of what Massimiliano Allegri has accomplished in his career.

Lazio, the surprise package of this Serie A season, have collected 28 points from their first 10 matches, turning heads in the title race. In the three-points-for-a-win era (since 1994-95), only four teams had reached that tally after 10 matches: Juventus (2012-13 and 2018-19), Roma (2013-14), Napoli (2017-18 and 2021-22) and Milan (2021-22). In five of those six cases, the side went on to win their 11th match as well, moving up to 31 points.

Gattuso, who coached Napoli between 2019-2021 and won the Coppa Italia with them, does not see his side as favourites:

"It depends on how you look at things. Tomorrow in particular, we feel no pressure at all. We are aware that we will be playing a strong team going through a turbulent spell, in a difficult stadium. We have to show humility on the pitch and deliver our best performance."

Gattuso explained that their priority is to reach the 40 points needed to be mathematically clear of the relegation zone:

"We have to take it one game at a time. We still need 12 more points. The moment we reach 40 points, we will have a big celebration, because we will have achieved our first objective."

While Gattuso has made a tremendous start at the helm of Lazio, Allegri, who coached him at Milan in the past, is going through turbulent times at Napoli. On Saturday, Allegri surprisingly cancelled his press conference 10 minutes before it was due to start, and amid rumours about his future, the Napoli squad was sent into a training retreat.

Gattuso has lost all three of the previous matches in which the two head coaches have faced each other. Speaking about his experienced counterpart, Gattuso said:

"Max was my captain at Perugia in Serie B, and later he became my head coach. The statistics show that I have never beaten him. I would be happy to achieve even a quarter of what he has achieved. I know him well; he is someone who is not affected by pressure and stress. In difficult moments, he always knows how to make the right move."

Napoli have managed just 14 points from their first 10 Serie A matches this season (W4, D2, L4). A draw against Lazio would mean Napoli matching their worst 11-match start to a league campaign since the 2007-08 season.

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