By ESPN staff
Edy Reja has stepped down as Lazio coach - despite guiding the club into the Europa League for a second successive season.
Lazio finished fourth, just two points behind Udinese, narrowly missing out on qualification for the Champions League play-off round.
Reja twice attempted to walk away from the Rome-based this season but was persuaded to stay
by president Claudio Lotito on both occasions.
But Reja, 66, would not be denied a third time and hinted that he may
have stayed at the Stadio Olimpico had he managed to guide Lazio into the
Champions League positions.
"My adventure at Lazio ends here,'' he told Cittaceleste.it. "President
Lotito gave me his support and asked me to stay on.
"Even after my refusal, he invited me to reconsider and take a week to
reflect. But I had already made my decision.
"It seems as if we have not done anything these past two years, even though we
twice qualified for the Europa League.
"Of course, if we had hit our target of qualifying for the Champions League
this year, things would have been different.
"We had several injuries, which made the season difficult, but it hurts to
think that fourth place seems to be worthless.
"In addition the bid to strengthen in January went badly. After the transfer
window, I found myself without five or six regulars because of drawn-out
transfer negotiations which were never concluded.''
Chelsea's interim boss Roberto Di Matteo, who played for Lazio between 1993 and
1996, and former Blues and Italy striker Gianfranco Zola are the early
front-runners for the vacant hotseat.
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