FC Lugano is looking to turn things around after a rough start to the season and wants to make it to the group stage of the Conference League. Renato Steffen was missing from the first leg against Celje—maybe for disciplinary reasons?
There were reports of a clash during FC Lugano’s training session in preparation for their European Cup match against Slovenian side Celje. This comes as no surprise after the team’s disastrous start to the season. They were knocked out of the Europa League after losing to Romanian club Cluj and suffered two defeats in the Super League (1-2 against Thun and 0-4 in Sion). Clearly not enough for last season’s fourth-placed team.
According to Blick, there was a heated argument on Tuesday during training between coach Mattia Croci-Torti (43) and leading figure Renato Steffen (33, 115 Bundesliga games for Wolfsburg). The player is said to have spoken disrespectfully to the coach and even attacked him. The players and staff members eventually resolved the situation.
“There is no problem at all”
It is not yet known what triggered the dispute, which Croci-Torti later played down (“There is no problem at all”). The fact is, however, that he did not include Steffen in the squad for the Conference League qualifying match against Celje. While there is widespread speculation in Switzerland about disciplinary reasons, the club is talking about a minor injury that will prevent Steffen from playing in the international match at the alternative stadium in Thun.
“Like others, he’s not 100 percent. That’s why he’s not playing. But I think he’ll be in the stands to cheer us on. And he’ll be available again on Sunday against Basel,” Croci-Torti told RSI before kickoff in the Bernese Oberland.
Incidentally, there had already been a clash in Ticino during a training session in April. At that time, Steffen also got into a heated exchange with teammate Antonios Papadopoulos (25) after a hard tackle.
In such tricky phases, only success can help. However, it seems more than doubtful that the long-awaited Conference League group stage can still be achieved. After Thursday evening’s 0-5 debacle against Celje, the end of the downward spiral does not seem to have been reached yet.
