Three Things We Learned from Genoa vs Lazio: Baroni’s Legacy Lives On! | OneFootball

While many of us foresaw more misery at Marassi, Lazio instead produced a convincing showing against Genoa, even though their midfield has been pared down to the bone.

The Biancocelesti picked their hosts apart, opening the scoring as early as the fourth minute through Matteo Cancellieri. After playing provider on the first goal, Taty Castellanos scored the second himself at the half-hour mark, while Mattia Zaccagni sealed the win with a simple tap-in in the second half. So let’s delve into three talking points from Monday’s fixture.

Lazio Revert to Marco Baroni’s System

According to Il Corriere dello Sport (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), Maurizio Sarri dropped his famous three-man midfield for the first time in 525 matches. Needless to say, this was far from a voluntary decision, but a choice imposed by the selection crisis. With five of his first-team midfielders unavailable, Sarri went for a 4-2-3-1 system, with Boulaye Dia starting behind Taty Castellanos.

Marco Baroni, bless his heart, is currently enduring a woeful start to life at Torino, and it’s difficult to tell whether he’ll be able to weather the storm and live another day. Nevertheless, we’d like to think that watching Lazio succeed after resurrecting this system has temporarily warmed his heart during this challenging period.

Toma Basic Could Be a Permanent Solution

Amidst the aforementioned midfield emergency, Toma Basic was brought back from the cold and immediately thrust into the starting lineup. The Croatian was happy to do the dirty work, while Danilo Cataldi was pulling the strings.

But while the 28-year-old was only reinstated due to the massive selection crisis, he’s now been handed a golden opportunity to earn a permanent spot, not only in the squad, but even in the starting lineup. At this stage, Nicolo Rovella and Matteo Guendouzi are considered automatic starters, but the third spot in midfield remains, by all means, up for grabs.

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru is currently injured and outside the Serie A squad, and we don’t know if he’ll be reinstated before he leaves for the African Cup of Nations in mid-December. And in any case, the Nigerian has done little to impress Sarri in the first rounds of the season.

Moreover, Reda Belahyane remains too raw, as evidenced by his Derby della Capitale performance, while Matias Vecino is arguably over the hill and currently struggling to regain his fitness. On the contrary, Basic is supposedly at the peak of his powers, and while he may not be the most exciting option, he is well-rounded enough to do the required job in the box-to-box role.

Sarri’s Lazio Would Thrive in Europe

There could be no denying that Lazio’s exciting display was partially because of Genoa. On one hand, the Grifone are enduring a woeful start to the campaign, and on the other hand, the way they approached the game played into Lazio’s hands, as Maurizio Sarri’s men are experts at harrying their opponents on counter-attacks.

Unlike the majority of Serie A clubs that reside in the bottom half of the table, Patrick Vieira’s side adopts an adventurous approach, playing with a high defensive line. This was simply too perfect for Castellanos, who is excellent at freeing up wingers with sublime through balls, and for Matteo Cancellieri, who adores bursting into the space between the backline and the goalkeeper.

Therefore, one might imagine that the Aquile would find success in Europe, where clubs tend to open up the play rather than maintaining rigid defending blocks. But whether this Lazio side is capable of finishing in the European spots is a different story…