Stefano Pioli concedes Lazio started badly yet again with Sparta Prague and “we got the approach wrong.”
The Aquile had been unbeaten in the Europa League this season and won all five of their previous continental home games, but were crushed 3-0 to go out 4-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16.
“We have responsibility in certain respects, just as our opponents deserve credit,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.
Stefano Pioli concedes Lazio started badly yet again with Sparta Prague and “we got the approach wrong.”
The Aquile had been unbeaten in the Europa League this season and won all five of their previous continental home games, but were crushed 3-0 to go out 4-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16.
“We have responsibility in certain respects, just as our opponents deserve credit,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“We made too many mistakes and you cannot be two goals down after 12 minutes. It makes it an uphill struggle. That start decided everything and it’s a great shame.
“Unfortunately this is not the first time we have started with a handicap. We are working on it, but clearly so far have been unable to fix the issue.
“In a negative campaign like this, going down early against a strong opponent makes everything far more difficult.
“There is disappointment, we wanted to progress, but we got the approach wrong. Unfortunately this is the truth, we make early mistakes that then complicate things.
“The season started badly and it became increasingly difficult to overturn the various setbacks. We had been unbeaten in the Europa League until now.”
Pioli was criticised for his perhaps overly-attacking formation, which left them massively exposed on the counter.
“We were attacking, but solid. Those two incidents compromised everything. It’s a pity, because we proved we had the quality to hurt them and the third goal just made it too big a mountain to climb.
“There were too many mistakes made in a game where we needed to be clear-headed.”
Now Lazio go into a Serie A clash with Milan on Sunday evening.
“Am I worried? Yes, certainly. It is a negative moment and I must do well to work on the players’ heads. Now there is a Serie A tournament to be played with great pride and prove we can still have our say.”