Baggio's career was affected by many serious injuries, which led to a gradual loss of pace and mobility as his career progressed, as well as increasing weight-gain in the final years of his career, which eventually forced him to undergo a training regime in order to build muscle mass in his legs and prolong his career during his time at Brescia; his continual physical struggles ultimately led him to retire in 2004, which he later described as a "liberation." Since suffering his first series of career-threatening injuries with Vicenza and Fiorentina in 1985 and 1986, respectively, he was prone to persistent knee problems in particular, which often limited his playing time; injuries led certain pundits, such as Benedetto Ferrara of La Repubblica in 2010, to label Baggio as a "superfine talent" but who was also "inconsistent." In 1995, Maurizio Crosetti, Ferrara's colleague, had previously described Baggio as "fragile." Regarding the injuries that threatened his career as a youngster, and which haggled him until he retired, Baggio wrote in his 2001 autobiography that "all of my professional career, I played it with a leg and a half. Thousands of hours of work to keep alive a leg which, if it were up to her, would diminish each day. I played it without being fully all right, ever, because if I were to play matches only when I felt one-hundred percent I would play three matches a year." Despite the numerous physical impairments he faced throughout his career, Baggio also stood out for his longevity, and was able to maintain a consistently high level of performance even in the final years of his career with Brescia into his late 30s. In 2004, Sacchi praised Baggio for his strength of character, which he believed even surpassed his talent, as it allowed him to overcome his injuries and physical struggles, and ultimately "win [his] personal battles against bad luck." In 2017, Capello noted that Baggio had the extraordinary willpower to carry on playing despite his physical struggles. Baggio attributes his inner strength to Buddhism.
Baggio's career was affected by many serious injuries which led to a gradual loss of pace and mobility as his career progressed as well as increasing weight-gain in the final years of his career which eventually forced him to undergo a training regime in order to build muscle mass in his legs and prolong his career during his time at Brescia; his continual physical struggles ultimately led him to retire in 2004 which he later described as a "liberation" Since suffering his first series of career-threatening injuries with Vicenza and Fiorentina in 1985 and 1986 respectively he was prone to persistent knee problems in particular which often limited his playing time; injuries led certain pundits such as Benedetto Ferrara of La Repubblica in 2010 to label Baggio as a "superfine talent" but who was also "inconsistent" In 1995 Maurizio Crosetti Ferrara's colleague had previously described Baggio as "fragile" Regarding the injuries that threatened his career as a youngster and which haggled him until he retired Baggio wrote in his 2001 autobiography that "all of my professional career I played it with a leg and a half Thousands of hours of work to keep alive a leg which if it were up to her would diminish each day I played it without being fully all right ever because if I were to play matches only when I felt one-hundred percent I would play three matches a year" Despite the numerous physical impairments he faced throughout his career Baggio also stood out for his longevity and was able to maintain a consistently high level of performance even in the final years of his career with Brescia into his late 30s In 2004 Sacchi praised Baggio for his strength of character which he believed even surpassed his talent as it allowed him to overcome his injuries and physical struggles and ultimately "win [his] personal battles against bad luck" In 2017 Capello noted that Baggio had the extraordinary willpower to carry on playing despite his physical struggles Baggio attributes his inner strength to Buddhism