Fabio Liverani believes Lazio will have a “20-30 per cent chance” of the Europa League final if they beat Sparta Prague.
The Biancocelesti take on the Czech side in the first leg of their Last 16 tie tonight, and the former midfielder gave his thoughts on the match.
“Czech teams fight for every ball,” Liverani explained to LaLazioSiamoNoi.
Fabio Liverani believes Lazio will have a “20-30 per cent chance” of the Europa League final if they beat Sparta Prague.
The Biancocelesti take on the Czech side in the first leg of their Last 16 tie tonight, and the former midfielder gave his thoughts on the match.
“Czech teams fight for every ball,” Liverani explained to LaLazioSiamoNoi.
“Sparta have good players, fast, very good on the counter-attack and can cause you problems. Even if they’re underdogs against Lazio they have the qualities to do well tonight and in the return.
“It’s a 180 minute game, they have to be very careful. Lazio have to go there and try to get at least one goal.
“They have the potential to do that, we saw that in Istanbul [against Galatasaray] and they can do it in Prague. Sparta won’t give much away though, so they have to take every chance they get.
“It must be said Lazio were lucky to draw Sparta when you look at the other teams in the competition: [Manchester] United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla, Villarreal…
“So there are definitely worse draws they could have had, but they [Sparta] are more prepared than Galatasaray.
“It’s not easy in Europe, because there are a lot of historic clubs, so getting to the end won’t be easy.
“It has to be said though, if Lazio get past Sparta they can aspire to an important finish because the top teams are meeting, they’ll eliminate each other.
“The road is very long, but with a bit of luck they could get to Basel [where the final will be played].
“If Lazio knock-out Sparta Prague they’ll have a 20-30 per cent chance of making the final.”