Baroni watches Twente and explains Lazio’s poor away form: “The data doesn’t lie” – Football Italia

TURIN, ITALY – OCTOBER 19: SS Lazio head coach Marco Baroni during the Serie match between Juventus and Lazio at Allianz Stadium on October 19, 2024 in Turin, Italy. (Photo: Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images)

Marco Baroni believes Lazio will need an “extraordinary” performance to beat FC Twente away in the Europa League on Thursday night, and also gave his opinion on Lazio’s poor away form at the Stadio Olimpico over the past year.

Baroni held his customary pre-match press conference on Wednesday evening ahead of Biancocelesti’s match at De Grolsch Veste Stadium on Thursday.

Baroni rates Twente-Lazio in the Europa League

Although Lazio is third in the Europa League table with maximum six points after opening victories against Nice and Dynamo Kiev, Baroni believes Twente will give his team a “difficult test”.

“It’s a young team that plays really good football,” Baroni told the press.

“They did very well in the last two European games. This will be a difficult test for us, especially for them and with their support. We watched them and we know that tomorrow we will have to perform at a high level, intense and full of sacrifices.

Baroni was also asked whether Lazio is taking the Europa League more seriously this season than in recent years.

He replied, “We want to compete in every competition. Tomorrow it will not be enough to have an “ordinary” level of motivation, we will need something extraordinary. These are matches in the best conditions: a beautiful stadium and a young group of opponents who play well and with enthusiasm.

Assessing the 1-0 defeat to Juventus in Serie A at the weekend, the coach added: “I always tell the boys that bad games can’t stop us from continuing our journey.

I always say that we learn from the games we don’t win. In difficult matches against teams like Juventus we will see what it is like to be under pressure. We managed for 22 minutes, then it became difficult because of their numerical advantage.

There was also updated information on the condition of his team: “Lazzarri is recovering. Guendouzi (decision) was a choice to help him recover as much as possible. The team must take advantage of its chances in such matches.

Baroni assesses Lazio’s poor away form

Baroni was then asked what he thought about Lazio’s away results. The team has lost 17 of their last 30 away games in all competitions.

“Of course we saw the data, I don’t like to hide from it because the numbers clearly tell us something. There were some anomalies in some of these matches, but we have to pay attention to what the statistics say.

“We must never lack attitude, this is an important step, the team must never go astray. Today we are away from the Olimpico again and I expect that we will play a match that meets all these requirements.