Six points in three games, two victories and one defeat but three performances away from the Olimpico which certify the maturity of Lazio’s Marco Baroni. The calendar presented Lazio with the first real obstacle of the season, the three matches in seven days away against Fiorentina, Dinamo Kiev and Turin represented an extremely interesting test and the answers have arrived. First answer, this Lazio has a depth of squad never had in the past. The peaks in performance that players like Immobile, Luis Alberto and Milinkovic-Savic could have guaranteed are probably missing, but Baroni can rotate his elements as he pleases and he demonstrated it this week. Only Gigot was not deployed, but due to unavailability given the shoulder problem. Everyone played and everyone responded, including Tijjani Noslin. The former Verona player is the perfect response, after Hamburg’s expulsion Baroni threw him into the fray in the final minutes at 2-1 and the Dutchman responded with a very heavy goal also considering Coco’s goal in injury time for the final 3 -2.
Give the untouchable, record-breaking Tavares
Everyone has an impact on this Lazio team, especially two new signings who are making the difference. The first is Boulaye Diaone of the last to arrive in mid-August just before the start of the championship. Unavailable for the first match against Venezia, the former Salernitana player came on for the second matchday from the bench against Udine. From that moment, Baroni never took him off again, finding him a perfect position as Castellanos’ shoulder. The Senegalese responded by practically always scoring. Goal against Milan, repeated goal against Verona after the break. Only “blank sheet” in Florence, but then he made up for it with the brace against Dinamo Kiev and the goal in yesterday’s temporary 2-0 at the Olimpico Grande Torino. The other player who is clearly making the difference Nuno Tavareshis fourth assist in four games in Serie A. The Portuguese is the only defender in the top five European leagues with four assists, he is the best assister in Serie A and above all his excessive physical power is capable of splitting matches in two. Lazio has found its identity, Baroni can now take advantage of the matches against Nice and Empoli at home to consolidate the rankings and arrive at the October break with sky-high confidence.