Bayer Leverkusen reached the Champions League group stage by recording an impressive 3-0 victory over Lazio at the BayArena on Wednesday evening.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Leverkusen were under pressure to take control of the match early on and they broke the deadlock when Hakan Calhanoglu fired home five minutes before the break.
The hosts then moved ahead on aggregate with an emphatic finish from Admir Mehmedi early in the second half, before Lazio defender Mauricio picked up a second yellow card with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Leverkusen took full advantage as Karim Bellarabi scored his side's third in the closing stages to wrap up a 3-1 aggregate triumph.
Read below to find out how the drama unfolded.
Lazio started the new Serie A campaign at the weekend, and they warmed up for the second leg with a 2-1 victory against Bologna.
4 - @bayer04fussball won 4 of the last 5 international matches at home (10-2 goals), only loss vs Monaco in November 2014. Hope. #B04Lazio
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) August 26, 2015
© Getty Images
LAZIO: Berisha, Mauricio, De Vrij, Radu, Basta, Onazi, Parolo, Lulic, Candreva, Keita, Felipe Anderson
© Getty Images
LEVERKUSEN: Donati, Ramalho, Boenisch, Ryu, Kresic, Kruse, Brandt
LAZIO: Cataldi, Gentiletti, Kishna, Konko, Guerrieri, Morrison, Milinkovic-Savic
#UCL #B04Lazio
I Biancocelesti scaldano i motori sul rettangolo verde della BayArena di Leverkusen.
#AvantiLazio pic.twitter.com/E2S5foyIts
— SS Lazio (@OfficialSSLazio) August 26, 2015
"I think Lazio have a good enough squad to compensate for that," he told reporters. "Of course Biglia is a very important player for this team in certain situations, but I think, just as we're missing some players, Lazio will also be able to compensate for that."
Delight for Turkish international @hakanc10 #UCL pic.twitter.com/Fj1opVKoDs
— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 26, 2015
Schmidt will be happy with where Leverkusen are at the moment, but he does have Brandt and Robbie Kruse to call on in the second half as the hosts go in search of at least one more goal.