Roberto Baggio vs Lokomotiv Moskva | Magical Performance - 2 Goals & 1 Assist | 1993 UEFA Cup R64

[@jackpuccini3143]

Thank you for another nice video! A truly fantastic performance from Baggio; he took beautiful bending free kick to score the first goal, and before he created a nice chance for himself with the volley in the first half as well, then he hit the post from another free kick in the second half, and one of his shots led to the second goal, and he also created some chances for others a well, but the third goal was just spectacular and one of my personal favourites, and certainly one of his most underrated goals...he showed it all: sublime technique, awareness, explosiveness, creativity, and cool finishing in front of goal!

[@footballsgreatest2645]

Cheers! Another aspect of Baggio's gameplay which tends to go under the radar was his relative selflessness - he was very much an intelligent playmaker and not 'just' a goal-obsessed star who was just intent on beefing up his stats. Baggio was just as likely to curl it into the top corner as he was likely to play a defense-splitting assist. With Baggio, there was never the sense of having an 'alpha' star in the side who wanted the lion share of goals, wanted everything to go around him and to be catered towards him. Baggio could play the role of a facilitator, playing those glorious one-twos and his intelligent and often selfless movement creating space for others; a playmaker, dictating play, dropping deep and providing goalscoring chances; and a goalscorer, and a pretty ruthless one at that. If that wasn't remarkable enough, he was also the talismanic leader of his sides, often turning the tide of a match with a sublime dribble, an out worldly freekick or an eye-of-the-needle pass! And as I mentioned before, he wasn't an egoistic player who'd go around taking pot shots or be selfish and purely goal-oriented in his movements or berate his teammates for not passing to him etc. He was a team player with immaculate decision making skills and I guess it explains why he barely, if ever, had issues integrating into various sides* with each having different team ethos or was at loggerheads with any of the illustrious teammates that he played with. *Apart from Milan, but that was a special case with a lot going on behind the scenes.

[@jackpuccini3143]

@@footballsgreatest2645 Yes, that's very true, and it frustrates me because often people will talk about Baggio as an individualist because of how good a dribbler he was, especially when comparing him to other Italian players in his position such as Totti or Zola...but in reality, he was far from being an individualist. There's a difference between being an egoist and a player who will undertake individual runs. Baggio would get on the ball and pass a lot during games, and would usually look for a teammate in a better position than himself, rather than taking a wasteful shot himself or risk losing the ball by taking on one opponent too many (even though he did enjoy entertaining the crowd with a piece of skill). What people don't realise is that he wasn't selfish...he was actually quite efficient in how he played...he was just arguably also one of the top five greatest dribblers of all time, so unlike most players, he had the ability to tear through an entire team with his timing, spatial awareness, and immaculate close control at speed, and with how nimble and explosive he was on the ball, and because of this he often used this ability to his and his teams' advantage if there weren't viable solutions, as was the case with Maradona, who was also far from being selfish himself (in both Maradona's solo dribble goal against England in 1986 and Baggio's similar goal against Czechoslovakia in 1990, you can see that they are looking for a pass while on the run but can't see someone open, so instead they continue to run and go for goal themselves). And Baggio wasn't a ball hog either, and he wouldn't be wasteful in possession or undertake mindless dribbles into a corner like some players, and he wouldn't showboat, usually, and instead would use his control and agility to get past players, even though he had the ability to pull off audacious pieces of skill and elaborate moves in one on one situations as well. Totti and Zola were both very good dribblers, especially Zola, but they weren't quite at Baggio's level (the same with Del Piero, although he was more of a goalscorer and assist provider than a playmaker as we already discussed) as they didn't have the ability to score Maradona or Messi-esque goals, and Totti wasn't as quick as them either, so naturally the way they played was quite different. Plus although Zola scored a good amount of goals for a number 10, he wasn't quite as prolific or offensive minded as Baggio or Totti, so naturally he would go for the final pass more often as that suited his style, whereas Baggio would often find himself in scoring positions more frequently, and was the main goalscorer at Juve as well during his peak years in addition to being the team's playmaker.

[@tejindersidhu7300]

Football's Greatest yes very true

[@dangiambrone7350]

There are some similarities between that second goal and Baggio's first against Bulgaria in USA 94; spinning away from his marker, the feint to beat the next challenge, which then made space for the cool and precise finish.

[@jackpuccini3143]

@@dangiambrone7350 I agree! That's also an incredible goal. I think for me it's probably his best, not just because of the skill he showed to beat two players and score so beautifully from outside the area, but also because it was in a World Cup semi-final!

[@tannoyhwaltecvoigt4233]

Baggio the best

[@giuseppecolonna1987]

Grandissimo Baggio

[@dsanchez9703]

Love ur videos hope ur channel grows brother! Love Baggio too🙂

[@footballsgreatest2645]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed them!

[@АннаКасабова-ь8щ]

Баджо е гении

[@wisnuadiputra4843]

3:29 Vuudaaaarrrrr 😄😄😸

[@Robinssoncravents]

great videos man!!!

[@footballsgreatest2645]

Cheers!

[@frankylongs9068]

I❤️Roby🇮🇹

[@OuldYoubba]

Are you sure that this match was on 1993? Not 1995?

[@danyoutube7491]

It was at the start of the 93/94 season, you can check with Google :) Also, Moller is in the team in this video, and he had left by '95 (unfortunately; he was a great player).

[@Alex00789]

His shot got blocked by the keeper and then Ravanelli scored. That's not an assist.

[@footballsgreatest2645]

I could be in the wrong here and I'm open to being corrected. FIFA rules for assists are the following: • An assist is awarded to the player who has given the last pass to the goalscorer. • In addition, also the last but two holders of the ball may get an assist if his action had decisive importance for the goal. • After goals from rebounds those players are awarded an assist who had shot on target. • After goals scored on penalty or by a directly converted free-kick, the fouled player receives an assist. • In case that the goalscorer had laid on the goal for himself (dribble, solo run), no assists are awarded. • No assists were awarded, either, if the goalscorer took advantage of a missed pass by an opponent In accordance with the 3rd point, I reckon we can chalk that down as an assist for Baggio. www.transfermarkt.com/juventus-fc_lokomotiv-moscow/index/spielbericht/2987137 Transfermarkt has it an assist for Baggio too, for what it's worth. I do understand that it's not an assist from the purest sense of the word and I get where you are coming from, but I don't make the rules 😂.

[@Alex00789]

@@footballsgreatest2645 Ok, cool.