Ranieri: “We’re gradually on the mend. We showed belief”

Claudio Ranieri used a metaphor referring to recovering from illness to describe his Sampdoria team that avoided back-to-back defeats thanks to Gaston Ramirez’s header in stoppage time. “When things aren’t going well, we have to hold on to the positives,” said the coach. “Let’s hope this goal in the 90th minute helps us turn things around. The boys have given their all. Lecce are in good form and made life difficult for Milan and Juve. Let’s take the point. It’s not much, but it’s a small drop of medicine.”

The boss went on to analyse the current situation further: “This draw is big for our morale. When I came here, the group had little confidence, but they’re now picking themselves back up again, working hard and following me. The draw is the fruit of that stroke of luck that we needed. We certainly need to improve, but that goal at the end came about because we had that belief. As for Quagliarella, he went even closer to scoring, so I’m sure he’ll be among the goals soon.”