Europa League, Baroni: "We need more nastiness in front of goal. Europa League is a goal"

Hamburg 25 September 2024 - Yesterday was the eve of the match at the home of LazioThe team from the capital has left Formello for Germany, where the match awaits them at 21pm today. Dinamo Kiev for the debut in Europa League. A season debut in Europe for the Biancoceleste team, the first time in Europe as a coach for FRAME Baroni. A great challenge for the coach after a long apprenticeship, culminating with the two great exploits of the last two seasons, where he obtained complicated salvations with Lecce e Verona. So much anticipation for the coach, who was present yesterday in the press room of the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg to present the challenge against the Ukrainians. Here are his words in the pre-match press conference, where he was also present Mattia Zaccagni by virtue of his role as captain of the Lazio team. 

The first question for the coach asked him very directly whether or not he had shaken off the frustration and anger of the defeat suffered in Florence against Fiorentina. "Tomorrow's match will certainly be an opportunity for those who have played a little less. Then, as I have always said, I consider everyone a starter and I am sure that there will be the best performance from everyone. I am sure of it. Defeats are always painful, we did a quick analysis, but I must say that there are many positive aspects linked to the content of the performance. We have built a lot in all the matches, creating crosses, corners and shots on goal, conceding few shots on goal. From this point of view, we must certainly be more aggressive in front of goal and more concrete both in attack and defense"

The choice of field was also immediately discussed, with the coach being asked who will be the starting goalkeeper in the match against Dynamo between Provedel e mandas. "I have already expressed myself from this point of view. The role of the goalkeeper is particular. mandas he is an important asset for the club, he is young, he is doing well and there will be an opportunity for him. Tomorrow he will almost certainly play Provedel".

The next question asked the technician what he thinks of the new format of theEuropa League, which follows the new formula of the Champions League. "The format for me is beautiful and interesting, for us it is a prestigious competition and we have all difficult matches. Tomorrow we face a difficult opponent. They are a team that has done the preliminaries, has gone down to Europa League, but there will be difficulties on the pitch. We need such important matches to grow from all points of view".

He also asked about the impact that theEuropa League will have on Lazio's season and the weight it can have on the ambitions for the rest of the year. "It is my habit to look at the objectives but proceed step by step. Tomorrow's match is delicate and important, for us theEuropa League it's a goal, it's a wonderful competition. For the team it's an opportunity, both for the young people who need to gain experience and for the less young. These are competitions that give you depth, they are welcome".

One of the themes of the challenge is the coach's debut in Europe as a manager, by virtue of this he was asked to Baroni his gut feeling about the challenge that awaits him this evening. "I don't think I arrived late in Europe. The beauty of our job is that you never know where you can get to, but when you are determined you can achieve certain goals. I am happy, content and focused with all the staff. We want to enjoy it and play great, for this reason tomorrow we will need a great performance".

Returning to the issues on the pitch, one of the knots to be untied for the challenge against Dinamo Kiev it is that of the attacker, between a Castilians not at the top physically and a noslin which still doesn't have the same impact as expected."Taty for us he is fundamental and you know it very well, he would like to be on the pitch. We spoke this morning, he is better but he comes from five days where he has not trained. He is available, but we will see if we can insert him during the game. I have to make some reflections on the central striker, noslin he's fine and in Florence he played a good game, he fought, he did the right things, even if maybe he lacked the goal. He's a young guy who's growing and these games can help him. He can cover the three offensive roles and I know I won't create a difficulty for him in moving him between the areas of the pitch. The nice thing about these guys is that they are free, they don't resist playing in one role rather than another. Let's see, we have to make some evaluations, but he will definitely be in the game".

The last question was about Dele Bashiru e Tchaouna and what they lack to become important pieces of this team, so as to be able to consistently impact the challenges. "Yes, a spark is needed but Give has important qualities. He is a modern player with strength, running and speed, he is very physical. He should be built in our midfield, he can be both a midfielder, but also play behind the striker. We are working on it together both with videos and in training. He has already been on the pitch in these first matches and there is a good chance that he can start from the beginning. Same thing for Tchaouna, is a boy who is clearly slowly finding himself in that role. He is a player who has pace, dynamism and shooting. He must be calm, a bit like Gustav who also did very well in Florence. Serenity will allow them to go faster, they must free themselves and put their qualities on the field".