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Lazio president backs idea of Scudetto play-off with Juventus

Claudio Lotito thinks it could be a fair option to decide the Scudetto with a game against Juventus, who are just above Lazio in the table.

By Joe Wright
bonucci immobile

Rome, April 27: Lazio president Claudio Lotito would be in favour of a play-off with Juventus to decide the Serie A title.

Juve were a point ahead of Lazio at the top of the table when Italy's football season was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Stringent lockdown measures in Italy are being eased from Monday (April 27), and there are plans in place to allow teams to return to training on May 18.

A decision has not yet been made on how the 2019-20 Serie A season will be resumed, with Juve and Lazio still having 12 matches to play, including a meeting at the Allianz Stadium that was initially scheduled for April 26.

The capital club won the first league meeting 3-1 back in December and defeated Juve in the Supercoppa Italiana match three weeks later by the same scoreline.

Lotito would support the idea of another one-off meeting to settle the title if necessary, particularly as he believes Lazio's decision to focus on the league rather than the Europa League will no longer give his side an advantage as the fixture schedule would be hectic if the season returned in full.

"In the first game against Juventus, we won 3-1, and in the Supercoppa we won 3-1. And we still had to play the second game," Lotito told La Repubblica.

"For fairness, a team like Inter, who have eight points fewer than us, or Atalanta, who have 14 fewer points - tell me if they should be involved.

"Yes, I'd accept [a play-off]. But I never posed the problem myself. However, restarting penalises us.

"We made a choice, believing we couldn't play on three fronts: we sacrificed the Europa League, given that, for times and travelling, it was the most uncomfortable competition.

"So, we would have played once a week while others played twice. If we started again, we'd all play twice a week, and we'd lose an advantage. But I think about the interests of 20 clubs."

Story first published: Monday, April 27, 2020, 14:18 [IST]
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