“I Made a Mistake” – Baroni Reveals Reason Behind Expulsion, Explains Curious Change in Lazio Lineup

The Laziali

·27 de janeiro de 2025

“I Made a Mistake” – Baroni Reveals Reason Behind Expulsion, Explains Curious Change in Lazio Lineup

Lazio coach Marco Baroni admits he shouldn’t have complained too much to the referee during Sunday’s clash against Fiorentina.

Lazio Suffer Defeat at Home

The Biancocelesti suffered defeat at home against their direct rivals in the Champions League race. Yacine Adli and Lucas Beltran gave the Tuscans an early two-goal cushion while Adam Marusic pulled one back in the dying embers of the match. Pedro almost snatched a last-second equaliser but was impeded by the post.

Vídeos OneFootball

Marco Baroni Explains His Expulsion

The contest also featured several heated incidents, with Adli and his manager Raffaele Palladino both seeing red, in addition to Baroni. In his post-match press conference (via Alfredopedulla.com), the latter explained that he was only protesting against time wasting, but admits he may have gone too far.

I made a mistake and I’m sorry for the expulsion. I was protesting against time wasting, we have to find a solution for it. People must want to play football, real football has to be introduced because the show brings us spectators and revenues. I will never allow myself to talk about the referee’s performance, but in this system has to improve.

Baroni Notes Second Half Improvement

The 62-year-old rues his players’ displays in the opening minutes, but praised their second-half display.

We conceded two easy goals, so it wasn’t easy. However, the team put on an incredible second half, playing constantly in the opponent’s half with their speed is not easy. We lacked rhythm at the beginning, if we don’t have offensive rhythm we make defensive errors and this penalizes us. The mental energy, desire and determination, in addition to the quality shown in the second half is good. It’s clear that we are not happy, but we pick ourselves up as we always do.

The Curious Midfield Change

Finally, Baroni explained why he fielded Fisayo Dele-Bashiru in the starting lineup instead of his first-choice Regista Nicolo Rovella before bringing in the latter after the interval.

Rovella had a family situation and didn’t train on Saturday. It’s clear that it immediately became the wrong match for Dele, as he needs space whereas Fiorentina sat deep. It wasn’t a midfield issue, Dele-Bashiru is growing and will give us a lot. The team was slow, we can’t play slow football. I can’t wait to get back to work tomorrow to strengthen this team. We are on an important journey, there has been a change but I don’t want to be repetitive. The team certainly needs to improve, first and foremost our mentality.