Empoli boss Maurizio Sarri believes that his team will be safe from relegation if they can manage to secure an away victory over Atalanta on Sunday.
The Azzurri currently sit in 16th place on the Serie A table with 34 points, leaving them four points ahead of 17th place La Dea and 11 points clear of the relegation zone, and the tactician is hoping to see his team play with the right attitude as they search for a necessary win after a string of disappointing results.
Sarri spoke during his pre-match press conference on Saturday about the importance of earning three points against Atalanta and commented on Empoli’s need to give their all while avoiding the mistakes they made in their recent clashes with Parma, Lazio and Juventus.
“We have to view the game tomorrow as decisive for our salvation,” said the 56-year-old. “The team has to be able to fight past the environment we’ll be in and play the game to our advantage.
“A victory tomorrow would put an end to the talks about salvation. But we must be careful because there will be many difficulties for us to overcome.
“The environment in Bergamo will be tough for us to play in, while the motivations of Atalanta, who are playing their most important games of the season, could be dangerous for us as well.
“Our recent results? Perhaps they were our own fault. I would like to see a team that doesn’t make mistakes and doesn’t let the opponent play their own type of game, as we have in our last few matches.
“Unfortunately in recent times we have made a few more errors than usual. The draw with Parma was played the same way as our recent victory over Sassuolo, except we made more defensive mistakes.
“We have worked well throughout the week in terms of intensity, pace and commitment, but unfortunately we still make mistakes in those fields too.
“I hope that we’ve learned something from the last few games and can now start to do better, because we must remember that if we only play at 99% then we risk losing it all.”
