Pioli vows Lazio will take Europa League seriously

Stefano Pioli insists that Lazio will give their all to go far in the Europa League as they prepare for Thursday's Group G opener against last year's runners-up Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

The Serie A outfit failed to qualify for the Champions League group stages after Bayer Leverkusen proved to be too strong in the play-offs, but that does not mean they will be taking Europe's secondary competition lightly.

"It is important to start with a positive result. We lost a dream when we did not qualify for the group stages of the Champions League, but we have to think about the present and the future. The Europa League is a prestigious competition and it is important to get off to a winning start," said Lazio boss Pioli.

"This competition is as important to us as Serie A. We have the quality to win any game and we have to try to progress to the next round."

Dnipro lost the final to Sevilla in May and Pioli warned against underestimating the Ukrainian side.

"Dnipro are a very complete team. They have a lot of pace and play very intense. Those are their biggest weapons," Pioli added.

"We have to make sure we make the right choices to prevent them from playing their own game.

"We know that it will not be easy, but we want to charge forward whenever possible. We want to prove that we are competitive."