A day of firsts for Giampaolo: “I’ve never beaten Milan; well done lads”

There’s a first time for everything.

Until this afternoon Marco Giampaolo had never tasted victory against either AC Milan or Vincenzo Montella, but today’s performance showed much of his influence.

“Over all the years I’ve never managed to win at San Siro,” began the Blucerchiati coach. “This victory means a lot. It increases the confidence of a young team like ours. They forced us to play in a different manner than usual, we had to change our runs and exploit the changes in possession more often. Defensively we were superb: I have to say congratulations to the lads.”

Sampdoria began well and coped impressively with the challenges the match posed, thanks in part to Giampaolo’s changes from the bench.

“Our substitutes improved on what had been done at the start,” the coach continued. “Muriel is a top player and his one-on-ones are hard to read. His future is in his hands and he’s on the right track.”