Baroni: Lazio need ‘quality’ against ‘tough’ Twente, Dele-Bashiru ‘improving’ | OneFootball

Lazio will have to put ‘compactness’ and ‘intensity’ if they want to emerge winners from a ‘difficult test’ against Twente in the Europa League, according to their coach Marco Baroni.

The Biancocelesti have started their European campaign brightly, picking up two victories in as many games, and despite their opponents are still winless in the competition Baroni urged his side to be wary of their ‘quality’ and ‘mobility’.

Lazio’s manager opted to field Boulaye Dia up front for the occasion, while Fisayo Dele-Bashiru will start in midfield, as Baroni admitted to appreciating his mix of ‘quality’ and ‘physicality’.

Baroni wants ‘mobile’ and ‘quality’ against Twente, Dele-Bashiru a ‘prospect’

“Today we face a difficult test because they are good at moving the ball and have quality, it’s a team who play really good football,” Baroni told Sky Sport Italia ahead of the match, as quoted by TMW.

“It’ll be a complicated game, in which we’ll also need mentality, thought and positioning.

“I believe in a mobile football, I have players that can interpret it well, ours is not positional football.

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 by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images)

“The team were very patient, it has to be like that because we’re working a lot on keeping the ball. We play against a side that know how to play, they have a lot of mobility too.

“We’ll have to do well; we’ll need to put quality in the match and keep the right distances between the departments.”

Nigeria international Dele-Bashiru will be given a start after scoring his first goal for Lazio in the Biancocelesti’s Europa League debut against Dinamo Kyiv, and Baroni underlined his recent progress.

“Dele-Bashiru is a very physical player but also has quality, he’s very good at running forward,” he added.

“It’ll be a difficult test and it’s right to see how he behaves because he’s improving, I think he’s a player with a very important prospect.”