Stuttgart defender Serdar Tasci has admitted that it was Lazio's cutting edge in front of goal that saw them to a 5-1 aggregate victory over his side in the Europa League last 16.

Tasci said that he hopes the experience of playing in the Europa League will help Stuttgart start to perform better in the Bundesliga.

"You could say it was their effectiveness which made the difference," UEFA.com quotes him as saying. "We played a decent first leg, but we conceded cheap goals and did not take our chances so it is obviously hard then to get anything from the second leg.

"We have come a long way in the Europa League and I do not think many people really expected us to get this far.

"It was a great experience for us and it will help us, because we have been able to measure ourselves against good teams and now we have to ensure we give it our best in the Bundesliga."

Stuttgart are currently struggling in 14th place in the league.

Written by
Matt Domm