Baroni: "We Are Still Very Much In The Race For Both European Football And A Good League Position Because We Value Every Member Of Our Team. We Must Deliver The Right Performance To Secure Important Results."

In a closely contested Serie A encounter at Bergamo's Stadio Gewiss on Sunday (06/04), Marco Baroni highlighted that Lazio's unity shone through following their hard-fought 1-0 victory over Atalanta, a key opponent in their Champions League campaign.

The win was especially crucial as it kept Lazio's aspirations of reaching Europe’s top competition alive. Gustav Isaksen emerged as the standout performer, scoring his team’s decisive goal in the 54th minute, which proved to be the match-winner.

Reflecting on the performance, Baroni told Sky Sport, "I’ll start with the team's attitude and the energy on the pitch. I want to congratulate the players; sometimes the results may not be perfect, but we are united and showed that today." He also praised the contributions from the new signings, adding, "The new players also made their mark. With some of our regulars on the mend, we had the chance to rotate our squad."

Lazio had been in need of a confidence boost after managing only a single point from their previous two league matches. With a Europa League quarter-final against Bodo/Glimt scheduled for Thursday, significant changes were made to the starting lineup. Baroni acknowledged the challenges of a congested fixture list, stating, "I’ll never complain, but playing so many games in a short period is tough. There's not much time to prepare, so we’re concentrating on finishing the season strongly."

He continued, "We are still very much in the race for both European football and a good league position because we value every member of our team. Today's performance showed the proper response. While there will be games where we cannot afford mistakes, we are ready. We must deliver the right performance to secure important results."

Ultimately, the tactical substitutions paid off as Gustav Isaksen, coming off the bench, capitalized on a key opportunity when Fisayo Dele-Bashiru supplied a long pass to goalkeeper Christos Mandas, allowing him to set up the only goal of the match and secure a vital win for Lazio.