Two days until Benevento; president and senior directors attend training

The countdown is on until the last game before the winter break: in two days’ time Sampdoria travel south to face Benevento.

For training today, Marco Giampaolo held a technical meeting with his squad before stepping outside for some technical and tactical drills. Primavera players Alessandro Gabbani, Andrea Tessiore and Titas Krapikas joined in with the first team.

Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero was present at the Mugnaini this afternoon, watching on alongside technical director Daniele Prade and sporting director Carlo Osti.

Duvan Zapata made his return to the squad after some time out through injury, while Ricky Alvarez and Ivan Strinic trained separately. Christian Puggioni is recovering from the flu and spent the session in the gym.

The Blucerchiati will be back out tomorrow morning for one final workout behind closed doors. After applying the finishing touches to their Benevento preparations, head coach Giampaolo will hold his pre-match news conference at 12:30 CET. Live updates will be available on Twitter and a highlights package will appear on Samp TV shortly afterwards.