Lazio assistant manager Giovanni Lopez admits their players were influenced by the home fans cheering on Inter Milan last night.

The Biancocelesti supporters had urged their team to lose against Inter in order to ruin Roma's Scudetto chances.

"Did the behaviour of the fans affect us? It did slightly yes," confessed Lopez after the 2-0 defeat.

"We tried during the week to isolate ourselves from that surreal environment, but it was not easy. We started out with the right motivation.

"The staff were focused on what was happening on the pitch, but we also realised that the whole stadium cheered when Walter Samuel scored.

"In the first half we went pretty well, but when conceding the second goal we just collapsed.

"Our plan had been to soak up pressure and go on the counter, but Inter's goal knocked the wind out of our sails."