Lazio reveal Celtic man who is 'difficult' as pressure builds on Maurizio Sarri

Pedro wants to defeat Celtic to help embattled ‘special coach’

Lazio forward Pedro intends to ease the pressure on head coach Maurizio Sarri by putting Celtic to the sword in Tuesday’s Champions League showdown in Rome.

The 64-year-old has come under fire after a 2-1 defeat at Salernitana on Saturday left his side 11th in Serie A. Sarri said afterwards that if he felt he was the problem for the dip in league form, he would step down. Despite their domestic struggles, Lazio are in a good position to progress from their Champions League group, sitting second, one point behind leaders Atletico Madrid and a point ahead of third-placed Feyenoord.

Former Barcelona attacker Pedro insisted the players are still fully behind Sarri – who oversaw a third-placed finish last term – and they are determined to restore harmony with victory over the Scottish champions. “He is a special coach, he is a perfectionist and when you are a perfectionist and you don’t get results it is frustrating,” said Pedro. “I think he is a special coach for Lazio and he has helped raise the bar. When you lose one or two games it is tough and in this moment we need to do better and improve our ranking in Serie A. He is not the problem. If we win we will hug him 100 per cent.”

Lazio's Pedro spoke warmly about Celtic captain Callum McGregor.

Pedro came off the bench to score a 90th-minute winner as Lazio defeated Celtic 2-1 in Glasgow almost two months ago. The Spaniard was impressed by Brendan Rodgers’ side, however. “Celtic have a number of very interesting players,” he said. “Joe Hart is a very experienced goalkeeper and Callum McGregor is very difficult to play against. He is very technical and plays very well. We saw in the first match how difficult Celtic are to play against.”

Sarri, meanwhile, is reading little into the fact Celtic have lost both of their away matches in the Champions League so far due to the fact they had two players sent off in Rotterdam and one in Madrid. “I think Celtic have a good rhythm, they have good pace and intensity, and are good technically,” said the Lazio boss. “It’s not going to be an easy match. We can’t pay too much attention to the fact they have lost their two away matches because I believe those matches against Atletico Madrid and Feyenoord were conditioned by the fact they had one player and two players less in the matches.”