Lazio vs Parma preview - Ballotta hails Petkovic impact

Lazio are capable of clinching a place in the Champions League next season, according to their former goalkeeper Marco Ballotta.

Ballotta ended his playing career with the Biancoceleste having also played for Parma, their opponents at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

He is therefore looking forward to the game between two of his former clubs and is particularly enthusiastic about the impact Vladimir Petkovic has had on Lazio since his arrival in the summer.

"He is surprising everybody," he said. "I didn't expect him to make such an impact in his first year in Italy.

"Under him, some of the players are doing twice as well as they were last season, and they are playing good football.

"If they can keep up this pace, then they can make it (into the Champions League)."

Parma are having a decent season too and a win for them could boost their hopes of a return to Europe next season, and Ballotta believes their coach Roberto Donadoni deserves a lot of credit for the work he has done.

"He is doing a great job," he told tuttomercatoweb.it. "You can see his signature on the side and they are a club who have been working well for years, and the results are there to see.

"It's certainly going to be a great game. Lazio and Parma are both in their best form since the start of the season and it's no coincidence that they are both doing so well in the league.

"I think Lazio have a slight advantage in that they are playing at the Olimpico while I also think they have a superior squad, but both sides like to play football and I am sure Donadoni is not going to go to Rome just to defend."

Victory for Lazio could take them above both Inter and Fiorentina and at least maintain a three-point advantage over their city rivals Roma while Parma are a further three points behind the Giallorossi and keen to extend a three-game unbeaten streak.