Baroni vents fury at referee after Lazio denied clear penalty | OneFootball

Marco Baroni ‘certainly didn’t congratulate the referee’ for the incredible decision to ignore his VAR and deny a penalty to Lazio in their 0-0 Europa League draw with Ludogorets.

The Aquile were hoping to maintain their perfect record in the competition after winning the first four rounds and had the best chances at the Stadio Olimpico, especially Matteo Guendouzi thumping the crossbar.

However, they had assumed that a penalty was coming their way when the VAR called Croatian referee Duje Strukan to the monitor to view the Erick Marcus foul on Gustav Isaksen, only for the official to stand by his original decision.

“When a team is constantly attacking and ends up with six yellow cards to their two, plus that incident that rather speaks for itself, what am I supposed to say about the referee?” commented a visibly furious Baroni in his press conference.

“I certainly didn’t go over to congratulate him on his performance. A referee at this level ought to have a certain sporting spirit, but that was not the case today. We are bitter and disappointed at only having a point after a good game.”

Baroni irritated by defensive Ludogorets

epa11746028 Pedro of Lazio (R) and Aslak Fonn Witry Of Ludogorets (L) in action during the UEFA Europa League match between SS Lazio and PFC Ludogorets Razgrad at Olimpico stadium in Rome, Italy, 28 November 2024. EPA-EFE/ALESSANDRO DI MEO

Ludogorets had only earned one point in the previous four Europa League games and that seemed to affect their tactical plan at the Stadio Olimpico.

“It is not easy for anyone to play against a team that came here only to defend for a draw. There was no space through the middle, they had six defenders and three midfielders, while we in turn did not move the ball quickly enough in the first half,” continued Baroni.

“I don’t want to criticise Ludogorets, because I have seen some good performances from them, but they just didn’t play football today. That’s their prerogative, we should’ve done better. I rather like that my team was upset at the final whistle, because it shows we wanted the victory and a draw felt painful.”

Lazio have to wait and see if they will still be top of the Europa League table after the other results this evening, but they are nonetheless well positioned for direct access to the Round of 16.

“The objective remains a top eight finish,” assured Baroni.

President Claudio Lotito is angry at the decision to ban Lazio supporters from attending the next match away to Ajax in Amsterdam over security fears, but the coach tried to avoid the subject.

“I try to answer your questions, but this is really not my area,” noted Baroni. “We can win in Amsterdam anyway and I don’t want anyone to consider that an alibi for the team.”

More concerning for the immediate fixture list is the update on injuries, as “Boulaye Dia sprained his ankle, while Matias Vecino had a muscular problem and Pedro was exhausted.”