Giampaolo gives praise to opposition: “More credit to Milan than our own doing”

“We can’t draw comparisons between a club like AC Milan and ourselves, but we’ll keep on fighting right until the end.”

Marco Giampaolo has no intention of giving up in the race for European football this season, despite a bump in the road like tonight at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

“We came up against an in-form side and the result is more to their credit than our own doing,” the head coach began. “We lacked some quality up front, but it’s a source of pride that we’re up there in the table competing. We struggled to deal with their passing and one-on-ones.”

It was an evening when Sampdoria failed to make much of an impression in the final third.

“The Milan defenders did very well,” Giampaolo continued. “They created problems for us. We worked hard in the game but didn’t have enough of a presence in their area. We struggled to double up, track back and we looked a bit muddled, but I don’t have any major complaints to my team.”

The coach did, however, pick up on the fact that Duvan Zapata failed to shake hands with his substitute Gianluca Caprari.

“Was he angry? I am more so,” Giampaolo admitted. “I never talk to my players when they’re substituted, and there’s a time and a place to discuss who is playing well or poorly, but this concerns their code of conduct so it’s not on at all.”