Lazio playing for win against Bayer Leverkusen – Stefano Pioli

Simon Foster 09:17 26/08/2015
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  • Call to arms: Stefano Pioli says Biancocelesti must attack Bayer Leverkusen.

    Stefano Pioli is adamant his Lazio side must not rest on their one goal advantage ahead of their Champions League play-off tie against Bayer Leverkusen.

    The Biancocelesti take a 1-0 win lead to Germany thanks to Keita Balde’s 77th minute strike in Rome last week.

    But Pioli insists his men have to play to win in order to secure their progression to the Champions League proper. 

    “They’re a good team,” the 49-year-old said. “They play a very intense and direct style of football. They confirmed those features by deservedly beating Hannover [1-0 on Saturday] and they could have scored more.

    “Even in Rome they showed they were that kind of team. But, at the same time, if we’re here it’s because we’ve played in a certain way and deserve to be here.

    “This is only half-time, and we’re aware that we haven’t won anything yet. We’ll try to play our own game, attacking when we get the chance and trying to keep our opponents away from our box, as they have talent on set pieces.

    “We have to play on the front foot to cause them problems, because we have fast players who are good one-on-one. We have to play to win.”

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    Lazio’s ability to get a victory has been hampered by injuries to veteran striker Miroslav Klose, Filip Djordjevic, midfielder Lucas Biglia and goalkeeper Federico Marchett.

    Ricardo Kishna opened his account since a summer move from Ajax in the 2-1 win over Bologna and Pioli is confident he has the squad to cope with the absences. 

    “Unfortunately he won’t be on the pitch [Klose], but we have other players with different characteristics who will be trying to do their best in tomorrow’s game,” the Lazio boss said.

    “Ricardo Kishna? He definitely had a good game [against Bologna], with quality and good characteristics. He’ll certainly be useful for the team.”

    Elsewhere, Sporting Lisbon take a 2-1 lead to Russia against CSKA Moscow in the hope of securing a place in the main draw for the second successive season. 

    The Portuguese giants struck late on through Islam Slimani at the Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, but will be wary of a CSKA side who have six wins out of six in Russia this season. 

    Belarus champions BATE Borisov are favourites to reach the group stages for the fourth time in five years as they take a 1-0 advantage to Serbia for their second leg against Partizan Belgrade. And 

    Astana are 90 minutes from making history as they look to become the first Kazakh team to qualify for the main competition. They take a 1-0 lead to the Cypriot capital Nicosia.

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