Lazio great Juan Veron is happy seeing the team in the Champions League round of 16.

Lazio meet Bayern Munich in tonight's first-leg.

Veron told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "It was in the group with Atletico Madrid, Feyenoord and Celtic and qualified one round early. It wasn't easy, especially if we think that in the summer transfer window the best player, Milinkovic-Savic, had been sold and had not been replaced with a another champion.

"So, congratulations on the progress made so far. Now, however, we need an acceleration."

The former midfielder then focused on coach Maurizio Sarri, "I like his idea of football. He wants to play matches, tries to impose himself, his objective is to dominate the pitch.

"Then again, you know it well, the players always make the difference. If you have champions it's easier to win. My Lazio, which had Mancini, Mihajlovic, Nesta, Stankovic, Nedved, Salas, wouldn't have feared this Bayern that much. But now it's a different story, and we have to adapt."