Giampaolo: “It’s always a pleasure at Samp”

With 90 minutes left of the 2021/22 Serie A campaign, Marco Giampaolo and the club as a whole are able to relax, safe in the knowledge that the target for the season of reaching safety is already in the bag. The boss spoke to the media on Saturday ahead of the trip to the Meazza to face Inter on Sunday.

“I was confident in terms of what I’d told the players last Sunday. I didn’t watch the games to save my energy. I was then told the news when I was out on the terrace smoking. I wasn’t tuning in live. When I was told the news, I reflected on the importance of clinching safety and thought about all the invisible people who work behind the scenes here at Sampdoria every day, particularly my colleagues.

“I always have a positive outlook here at Sampdoria. Even if it’s not a bed of roses in league, I’m able to separate myself from that. I’m so happy at this club and in this city. I’ve not had any awful moments here. I’ve never had negative thoughts, but I’ve had the confidence to be able to overcome difficult moments. As Fabio Quagliarella said, I’ve also found it tough to sleep but even with the challenges that we’ve faced, we’ve had and still have more quality than the league table suggests.

“Will Sampdoria decide the Scudetto? No, that’s down to Milan. They can win the title with two out of three results. I’m expecting a difficult game against a top side at San Siro against Inter. They’re very physical, technical and have plenty of resources available.

“We head into the game in good physical shape. It’ll be a similar team to what we’ve seen in the last few weeks, but I’ll reward some of the lads for how well they’ve done in the week.

“As for Quagliarella’s future, he’s made history at Sampdoria. He’s scored a whole host of goals and even finished as the top goalscorer here.”