Giampaolo: “We want to be the best of the rest”

Marco Giampaolo has set the target for his Sampdoria side: ninth place, first in line behind all the big teams.

To do so they’ll have to overtake Torino, who currently occupy that spot three points ahead, and this weekend offers the Blucerchiati a chance to close the gap.

“We want to be the best of the rest after the big clubs,” the boss declared at his pre-match news conference.

“Torino obviously want to win this and we do too because we’re almost level pegging at the moment. To win it, we’ll need to get our game plan right and play with intensity and character.

“I’m expecting an open game because Torino like to attack with lots of quality players who are good at beating their man. We must defend well as a unit and be alert when they have set pieces.”

Sampdoria go into the game on the back of defeats to Sassuolo and Crotone, which has led some people to suggest the Blucerchiati are lacking motivation.

“We didn’t have any less motivation than our opponents but the result was less important to us,” Giampaolo noted. “From a technical perspective we didn’t perform so badly – but we don’t want the last five games to go the same way.”

The coach also spoke about the specific threat posed by the league’s top scorer Andrea Belotti.

“We’ll have to be very wary of him and play as a team, as we did in the reverse fixture. You have to stop the ball getting to him.

“He’s an old-school striker – the sort you used to see in Serie A 20 years ago. He’s a tricky customer but I’m sure Silvestre and Skriniar have the ability to match him.”