Jose Mourinho's 'obsessive' comments lead to furious statement from Lazio

Lazio have strongly hit back at Jose Mourinho after the Roma boss criticised officials for allowing their late winner against Spezia.

Mourinho is coming to the end of his first season in charge at the Italian giants where despite being Serie A’s biggest spenders, his side will miss out on the top four. With three games remaining, the Giallorossi are ten points behind fourth placed Juventus and are now in a battle with Lazio for a spot in the Europa League.

Roma were leapfrogged by the Biancoceleste on Saturday after their thrilling 4-3 victory away at Spezia. Lazio came from behind to earn three points, with Franceso Acerbi scoring a controversial last-minute winner.

It was touch and go whether Acerbi had strayed offside, but VAR allowed the goal sparking wild scenes of celebration. And after Roma could only manage a 0-0 draw with Bologna 24 hours later, Mourinho looked to deploy his famous mind games by reverting attention back to their rival’s controversial late goal.

“I’ve been coaching 22 years and everything stays the same,” he said. “A lot of things change in football, but you [the media] don’t. After each game there are questions and comments, in 22 years that’s one of the few things that haven’t changed.

“Another thing that hasn’t changed is that 22 years ago you could have won a game with an offside goal and 22 years later you can still win with an offside goal. Yesterday a team won with a goal that was offside. Think about it.”

Following his comments, Lazio have issued a lengthy and passionate official statement, claiming individuals have them ‘obsessively’ in their thoughts. While not explicitly naming Mourinho, there is little doubt he initiated the response.

The statement reads: “The fact that in 2022 a