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Torino's Sinisa Mihajlovic calls Maxi Lopez 'overweight' again

Torino coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has repeated his criticism of Maxi Lopez's physical condition, branding him overweight not for the first time this season.

The Argentinian forward was left out of the Granata's squad for their 2-0 defeat at Bologna on Sunday, even though his regular striker Andrea Belotti was suspended.

Mihajlovic said back in September that the 32-year-old was "carrying a washing machine on his shoulders" with his excess weight, and he repeated that assertion following Sunday's defeat.

"The only thing Maxi has about him is his weight," said the Serbian coach, reports La Gazzetta dello Sport. "We've been trying to get him in shape for four months now, but we're not getting any results. Anybody who wants to play for me has got to obey certain rules."

Without a recognised centre-forward -- Iago Falque, Adem Ljajic and Lucas Boye led the Torino front line -- the club lost further ground on the top five and Mihajlovic said their hopes of playing in Europe next season were over.

"The gap to the big clubs in the league has grown too much that it makes no sense now to talk about Europe," he said. "We've set a new record for points in the first half of the season, but that's not enough.

"Now all we can do is take each game as it comes. I won't give up right to the end, but it's up to the lads to believe in what they do. They need to get their feet back on the ground and enjoy themselves.

"There's little else to say about today's game -- we were too predictable and played like schoolboys. We lacked the right intensity and I don't think it's a coincidence that we've lost seven games away from home."