Marco Baroni warns the artificial grass and the weather conditions must 'not be an alibi' for Lazio in the quarterfinals of the Europa League with Bodo/Glimt. “We should not be afraid of important games.”
The first stage starts on Thursday in Bodo at 5.45 pm UK time (16.45 GMT).
The Biancocelesti surprised everyone by surpassing the inaugural main class table during the opening phase of the Europa League in its new format.
She then squeezed Viktoria Plzen 3-2 aggregated, although this contained a victory when he was up to nine men.
Serie A-shape has also fallen recently, which makes it a tense atmosphere that will start this quarterfinals.
“I am too concentrated on the present to look further, but busy is part of the work, so the more you do important things, the more the tension will increase,” Baroni noted in his press conference.
“We are opposed to a complicated team that has played together for a long time and has a lot of technical quality. They have caused problems for many opponents, not only in this tournament. We must be coherent, solid, determined and concentrated to overcome the variables that can arise.”
This is Baroni's very first European adventure ever as a coach, although he initially seemed to take the task as a duck for water.
“We should not be afraid of important games. The bigger they are, the more we have to see them as a party, with the concentration needed to go behind big goals. People don't matter in these games, only the collective and Lazio count.”
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Roma crashed famous to Bodo/shines in the Europa League a few years ago, with many coaches who complain about the difficulties of playing on artificial grass in Norway.
“This should not be alibi, we know what the conditions are, but also that this is a very good team,” Baroni replied.
“I am convinced that the team will not get the first approach wrong. Cold, strong wind and the field should not be alibis, the game is too important for that. I have played on a synthetic field for a year in my career and it is a big advantage, because you will know how the ball will bounce. We have to adjust quickly.”
That is perhaps easier said than done, because although Bodo/Glimt trained under a snowstorm today, it had passed by the time that Lazio got their session, replaced by Sunshine.
Playing on a hard, artificial grass will inevitably have repercussions for choosing a team that is already dealing with countless injuries, including in the middle of the Center Taty Castellanos, especially with the Della Capitale against Roma in Series A this weekend.
“This is the first of three major games in a row, so we have to evaluate everything together with the players. Taty is fine, but I want to let him go back to a full 90 minutes, hopefully at the second stage. We can't afford to wait for Bodo/shines, they won't allow us that luxury,” Baroni added.
“We certainly don't think about the derby, we have to take the one game at the same time and give ourselves everything. This is a match that requires our full focus and a great achievement.”