Marco Parolo said Lazio “lacked the determination of the first leg” against Bayer Leverkusen, but will learn from it.

They lost the Champions League play-off 3-1 on aggregate and will take part in the Europa League instead.

“Conceding a goal right before half-time changed the inertia of the game, as it gave Bayer more strength. They punished us straight away after the break and the game changed with a red card too,” Parolo told Mediaset Premium.

Marco Parolo said Lazio “lacked the determination of the first leg” against Bayer Leverkusen, but will learn from it.

They lost the Champions League play-off 3-1 on aggregate and will take part in the Europa League instead.

“Conceding a goal right before half-time changed the inertia of the game, as it gave Bayer more strength. They punished us straight away after the break and the game changed with a red card too,” Parolo told Mediaset Premium.

“We could either let our heads drop or learn from this and move forward. It’s our first year in Europe, Bayer Leverkusen just missed out on the Champions League quarter-finals last term, so clearly they are a very strong side at this level.

“We certainly missed important players, but have also done well without them before. Here we need to learn from what we lacked and improve our possession, being more incisive in attack and aggressive on the ball.

“Now there is the Europa League and we want to face it in the best way possible.”

Lazio had won the first leg 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico with a Keita Balde Diao goal, so what changed in Leverkusen?

“Bayer are a side who force you to play at a high tempo and with so many first touches you are likely to make more mistakes. We had a few chances to hurt them on the break and didn’t take them.

“Stefan Kiessling did a great job and the other attacking players moved around him. We lacked the determination and aggression we had in the first leg.”

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