Giampaolo keeping positive: “Undeserved defeat, we’re on the right track”

You dominate for the majority of the game, you more than deserve the victory but ultimately you end up on the losing side. It feels like Groundhog Day for Marco Giampaolo and his youthful team.

Nevertheless, the Blucerchiati head coach refuses to let spirits drop after the second late loss in the space of a week. “Skriniar’s error at the end punished us excessively because we didn’t deserve to lose,” Giampaolo said after the match. “I can’t blame the kid, it was a mishap that can happen to any of us.”

The loss might be tough to swallow but there are many positives to take from Sampdoria’s excellent work-rate.

“The thing I’m constantly asking of my players is to step off that pitch with their heads held high,” the Doria manager continued. “We gave everything we had tonight. You sometimes gets incidents in games that are enough to decide the outcome. As for Barreto’s disallowed goal, I’ve been told he was onside but we can’t play it again.”

Despite two back-to-back defeats, Giampaolo maintains that Samp are on the right track: “Obviously results are key, but win or lose you always have to start again in the right frame of mind.”