Champions League Play-off: Lazio vs Bayer Leverkusen preview

August 17, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Napoli vs LazioSerie A giants Lazio host Bundesliga hotshots Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of the Champions League play-offs at Stadio Olimpico.

And while the Biancocelesti need to make amends for the Italian Super Cup loss to Juventus, die Werkself will be aiming to try and extend the winning run.

Lazio did well to achieve a top 3 finish in Italian Serie A despite the fact they trailed Napoli quite a few points at one stage of the season.

The Biancocelesti were, however, unfortunate to be pitted against very good Bayer Leverkusen side, but they need to try and make the most out of this situation.

Lazio squad did not undergo major changes this summer, although they did recruit the likes of Ravel Morrison, Patric, Wesley Hoedt, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ricardo Kishna.

But, with none of the players currently tipped to be in the starting line-up, coach Stefano Pioli won’t be too concerned by the squad rebuilding process.

Lazio were pretty disappointing in pre-season, while also losing the Italian Super Cup match to Juventus, so odds of 2.75 (7/4) offered on home win do not look too tempting.

Coach Stefano Pioli faces serious selection problems, with Federico Marchetti and Edson Braafheid almost certain to miss out.

Meanwhile, Miroslav Klose, Filip Djordjevic and Stefan de Vrij are rated doubtful, which creates additional concerns for the hosts.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Berisha – Basta, Gentiletti, De Vrij, Radu – Cataldi, Biglia, Parolo – Candreva, Klose, Felipe Anderson.

Bayer Leverkusen have been regular in the Champions League over the last few years, but reaching the group stages this term may prove a difficult task.

Die Werkself lost the battle with Borussia M’gladbach for the third-place finish in German Bundesliga last season and that is why they are now vying Lazio for the CL berth.

There have been some important arrivals and departures at Bay Arena this summer, but the squad definitely look at least as good as last year.

The return of Christoph Kramer and arrival of Charles Aranguiz are probably the most important pieces of business, whilst the likes of Jonathan Tah, Andre Ramalho, Admir Mehmedi and Kyriakos Papadopoulos could have roles to play as well.

Bayer have again enjoyed a strong start to the season, defeating minnows Sportfreunde Lotte in DFB Pokal before recording a win over Hoffenheim at the start of the new Bundesliga campaign.

The win did come at a cost as captain Lars Bender suffered a back problem and he is now rated doubtful for the clash against Lazio.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Leno – Hilbert, Tah, Papadopoulos, Wendell – Kramer, Bender – Bellarabi, Calhanoglu, Son – Kiessling.

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