Vladimir Petkovic insists Lazio” data-scaytid=”2″>Lazio “will do everything to win” despite a fiery Europa League atmosphere with Trabzonspor.
Vladimir Petkovic insists Lazio “will do everything to win” despite a fiery Europa League atmosphere with Trabzonspor.
The Biancocelesti kick off in Turkey on Thursday at 18.00 UK time (17.00 GMT). Click here for the squad list.
“We want to win, as the group phase is short, whereas we have an entire Serie A season ahead of us,” said the Coach when asked about poor recent domestic form.
“Tomorrow we will do everything possible to win and we are optimistic. Obviously, when the squad is fully fit and complete then we’ll have the opportunity to play better.
“It’s a shame, as we almost always seem to be missing players, but I don’t want to ‘burn’ the youngsters by putting too much on their shoulders. I prefer to introduce them slowly into the senior line-up.”
The absentee list in Turkey includes Miroslav Klose, Abdoulay Konko, Stefan Radu, Diego Novaretti, Bruno Pereirinha, Andre Dias and Diego Novaretti.
“Trabzonspor are a typical Turkish team. They are very strong on home turf, aggressive and with quality foreign imports.”
Both sides are currently top of Group J after winning their opening games, as Lazio beat Legia Warsaw 1-0 and Trabzonspor earned a 2-1 victory away to Apollon.
Among Trabzonspor’s star names are Jose Bosingwa, Florent Malouda, Paolo Henrique and Marc Janko.