Stefano Pioli said Lazio should’ve taken more of their chances against Bayer, but it’s “unlikely” Miroslav Klose will play in Leverkusen.
The first leg of the Champions League play-off ended 1-0 for the hosts at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to a goal from Keita Balde Diao.
Stefano Pioli said Lazio should’ve taken more of their chances against Bayer, but it’s “unlikely” Miroslav Klose will play in Leverkusen.
The first leg of the Champions League play-off ended 1-0 for the hosts at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to a goal from Keita Balde Diao.
“The whole game was difficult and complicated, as Leverkusen press you hard and play the ball quickly. Finally we went back to being a team that can suffer and fight for every ball,” Pioli told Sport Mediaset.
“We knew that we could create chances and we did, but scoring only one was perhaps too little considering the overall performance.
“We won the first leg, but the tie is still wide open. Clearly it is excellent to keep a clean sheet at home, as Bayer Leverkusen create many opportunities and caused us problems, but we managed to largely keep them quiet.
“Now we have a Serie A game to play before the second leg and that can help us improve our fitness levels even more.
“We proved that we can play at this level and can fight it out with Bayer in Leverkusen. Our opponents beat Atletico Madrid, Benfica and Zenit at home last season, so clearly they are tough, but the lads gave the response we were looking for.
“We lost the Super Cup, which was our first objective, but we were pushed forward by our crowd and gave the performance we needed.
“It is certainly a good result, but we are well aware it will be tough to get through to the Champions League group phase.
“We knew that we could find great spaces if we got the passes through first time, but they press you all the time, so it was risky. Fortunately the team put in the right focus, grit and determination that we had been lacking so far this summer.”
Stefan de Vrij was stretchered off with a neck brace after a clash of heads, while Klose was substituted at the break with a hamstring strain.
“De Vrij seemed alright and I was almost angry. Klose had a muscular problem and I think it is highly unlikely we’ll be able to have him in the second leg. It’s a real problem, as we can’t add anyone else to the Champions League list.
“We need to work hard as a team and must improve further if we want a positive result in the second leg.”