“Taty is a great player, I played with him with the under 23s, I know him and we are friends. He is a great player and I will have to do my best to counter him. Lazio have a very strong attack, not just one player and we will have to counter the entire offensive phase of Lazio”. So in a press conference yesterday Nehuen Perez effectively kicked off the all-Argentina challenge with Taty Castellanos which will be staged tonight at the Olympic Stadium. A challenge that has already been seen this season when Perez won with his Udinese, a match that was the last outing of the former Atletico Madrid in Friuli. Many things have changed since that match at the end of August, not only has Nehuen Perez changed his shirt but Lazio has changed drastically. It is no longer a team in search of an identity, it is now clearly Baroni’s Lazio and this is demonstrated by the absolute supremacy in the Europa League.
Lazio, Castellanos in the national team: with the Seleccion he will find Nehuen Perez again
Scaloni’s call for Castellanos arrived and it couldn’t have been otherwise. From Lautaro to Icardi, from Garnacho to Julian Alcaraz, no Argentine has scored as much as the Biancoceleste number 11 at the start of the season. Seven goals so far, to which two assists must be added which means having already improved the entire tally of last season. Taty will be forced into overtime with Baroni who, if he can, never gives up on his centre-forward, capable of getting the team up, talking to his teammates and also finding the goal. Behind him, a trio of attacking midfielders with the returning Zaccagni on the left, Pedro in the center and Tchaouna on the right. In the midfield there is space for Vecino alongside Guendouzi, another player who Baroni is unlikely to remove from the field. In front of Mandas, defensive line with Marusic, Gigot, Romagnoli and Nuno Tavaresmaking his debut in the Europa League where he hasn’t even played since the 2020/21 season when he made himself known to the world with the Benfica shirt.