Lazio hold the edge, but Bayer Leverkusen will look to make their home advantage count when the two teams meet in the Champions League playoff second leg at the BayArena.
At the end of Wednesday, all 32 teams for the group stage of the Champions League will be confirmed, and neither Lazio nor Leverkusen will want to miss out on that cruiser and instead have to settle for the less glorious, not quite as spectacular Europa League boat.
Lazio are in the lead going into this second leg in Germany, having won 1-0 in the first leg in Rome. Keita was the lone goalscorer in that first leg, and Lazio will know another solid defensive performance, and they will be amongst the elite in group stages of the Champions League.
"It was a difficult and complicated match," Lazio manager Stefano Pioli told UEFA's official website. "Leverkusen played direct and aggressive football. We made some mistakes, but playing Leverkusen is not easy.
"We could have scored more but the result is certainly positive. The result does not change much for the return leg -- there is still a battle to be fought.
"Lazio want to play in the UEFA Champions League and we showed that [in the first leg], but we have to improve if we want a positive result at the BayArena."
Leverkusen finished in fourth spot in the Bundelsiga last season, and have had more recent exposure of playing in the Champions League. The same cannot be said of Lazio, and only after the 90 minutes on Wednesday, will we know if that eventually proves to be the deciding factor.
"[The first leg was] intense. We had several opportunities to score, but we weren't able to do so," Leverkusen manager Roger Schmidt, whose team's best chance came when Lars Bender hit the post, said. "However, Lazio took their chances, and have a strong team.
"Now we have the return match where we will try to overturn this result. Ahead of the home tie, we will work on our counterattacking and on our defensive game -- we will do our best. We have worked well in recent weeks and we are pretty confident."
Where to Watch Live
Bayer Leverkusen vs Lazio is scheduled for a 12.15 am IST (8.45 pm CET, 7.45 pm BST, 2.45 pm ET) start with live coverage in India on Ten HD. The match can also be watched via live streaming online on Tensports Live.
BT Sport Extra will show the Champions League playoff live in the UK, while US viewers can catch the game live on Fox Sports. The action can also be live streamed on FoxSoccer2Go.
Viewers in Germany can catch the match live on Sky Sport 4, while the live stream option is on Sky Go Germany. Audience in Italy can flip their remotes to Premium Calcio 2.
