Bayer Leverkusen vs Lazio preview

August 25, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Leverkusen vs LazioBayer Leverkusen face a tough task following the 1-0 defeat in the first leg at Stadio Olimpico, but they can take heart from the fact they have beaten stronger sides than Lazio in previous CL matches at Bay Arena.

The Biancocelesti carry a good lead into the return match, but numerous injury worries are creating plenty of problems for boss Stefano Pioli.

Bayer Leverkusen have been regular in the Champions League of late, reaching the group stage in three of last four years, but they were quite unfortunate to be pitted against Lazio this time out.

Die Werkself saw Christoph Kramer return to Bay Arena, while adding the likes of Charles Aranguiz, Jonathan Tah, Andre Ramalho and Kyriakos Papadopoulos to their ranks over the summer.

However, marquee signing Aranguiz suffered a serious Achilles injury before even making his debut, leaving club officials to search for a new central midfielder.

And while won the remaining three fixtures at the start of the new season, they had to settle for a narrow defeat in the first leg against Lazio, and are now 2.38 (11/8) to qualify for the next round.

Coach Roger Schmidt managed to rest the likes of Heung-Min Son, Karim Bellarabi and Kyriakos Papadopoulos at the weekend, meaning the trio will be recalled.

However, Omer Toprak, Tin Jedvaj and Charles Aranguiz remain on the sidelines, but there are no fresh worries for the coach.

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

Lazio worked really hard last season to secure the final Champions League berth in Italian Serie A, although they narrowly missed out on a second-place finish that would have seen them progress to the group phase.

The Biancocelesti added quite a few new players in the summer, but had the misfortune of seeing both centre forwards suffer injuries in the opening exchanges.

This means that Balde Diao Keita is the only fit striker in the squad, and with that in mind, the Biancocelesti need to be congratulated for victories over Leverkusen and Bologna.

Lazio are desperate to keep hold to the one-goal advantage from the first leg and they are 1.62 (5/8) to qualify for the next stage.

Miroslav Klose, Federico Marchetti and Filip Djordjevic have failed to recover from injury, but at least Stefan Radu returns from suspension.

Lazio suffered another major blow last week as key midfielder Lucas Biglia picked up an injury that will see him miss around four weeks of action.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Berisha – Basta, de Vrij, Gentiletti, Radu – Cataldi, Parolo, Lulic – Candreva, Keita, Felipe Anderson.

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