Stefano Pioli confessed “Bayer Leverkusen were better,” as Lazio “aren’t ready for the Champions League yet.”
The Aquile were surprise third place finishers in Serie A last season, snatching it from Napoli in the final round, but were outclassed 3-1 on aggregate by Leverkusen.
“Bayer were better than us. We lost the game because Bayer played at a higher tempo and we made far too many mistakes,” Coach Pioli told Mediaset Premium.
Stefano Pioli confessed “Bayer Leverkusen were better,” as Lazio “aren’t ready for the Champions League yet.”
The Aquile were surprise third place finishers in Serie A last season, snatching it from Napoli in the final round, but were outclassed 3-1 on aggregate by Leverkusen.
“Bayer were better than us. We lost the game because Bayer played at a higher tempo and we made far too many mistakes,” Coach Pioli told Mediaset Premium.
“The first half was quite balanced really and we were naïve, but overall Bayer created more, pressed harder and deserved to win.
“This is proof that we probably aren’t ready yet for this level, but we also want to grow and can do well in Serie A, the Europa League and Coppa Italia.
“We are preparing ourselves to step up to this level, we aren’t there yet, but have a quality squad and I’m sure we will get back on our feet quickly.”
Over the last six years, Milan are the only Italian side to have qualified for the Champions League via the play-offs.
“It’s certainly a negative statistic. Last year we got close to this style in terms of intensity and tempo, but Bayer are a strong side who have regularly been in European competitions for the last few years.
“We are just at the start of our journey and this is the level we aspire to. We hoped to get into the Champions League, but now we’re in the Europa League we aim to do it as protagonists.”
Pioli was criticised for changing his tactics to a 3-4-3 system for this big game, but denied Lazio were negative.
“We had accepted three against three at the back, but we didn’t move the ball around quickly enough. They played at a tempo that made it tough for us.
“Towards the end of the first half we got distracted and conceded a goal. After going 2-0 down and the red card, we still tried, but when your opponents win the individual duels on the ground and in the air it becomes difficult to make an impact.
“We struggled, but certainly not because of our attitude or our choice of approach.”
There were mistakes on all three goals, most notably when Stefan de Vrij invited Etrit Berisha to come out and gather, but Stefan Kiessling pounced.
“We knew they were a very attack-minded team and had set out well, but didn’t attack the ball enough. There was a misunderstanding between De Vrij and Berisha, it’s a pity.
“As for the second goal, Mauricio was not in the right position to attempt an interception. It was a mistake.
“Aside from Leverkusen’s quality, without those errors we could’ve stayed in the game to the end and hoped for that qualification goal.”