Giampaolo ready for Juventus: “Let’s go out on a high”

Sampdoria may have nothing on the line going into their final game of the season against Juventus but Marco Giampaolo hopes to claim one last scalp – for himself, for the team and for the Marassi faithful.

“You’re always motivated when you play Juventus and we have the chance to beat the champions twice in a row at home so that’s an added incentive for us,” the coach said at a news conference on Saturday.

“We also want to offer our fans a big send-off and give [Fabio] Quagliarella a fitting tribute.”

Juventus and Sampdoria are already sure of their final league positions so neither side needs the points but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter to them.

“Nobody likes to lose, not even a friendly, and certainly not a league match,” Giampaolo added.

The boss then took the unusual step of revealing his line-up.

“My mind is pretty much made up already. We’ll go with Rafael, Bereszynski, Ferrari, Colley, Sala, Barreto, Praet, Linetty, Ramoirez, Quagliarella and Defrel.”

Asked about his future, he explained: “I still need to speak to [Carlo] Osti and the president, then we’ll take the best decision for the club. We’re still talking about things and exchanging ideas.

“I’ve always believed that Sampdoria’s interests should come before any of our individual interests, including my own. I’ve always worked hard to improve myself and the team and that’s what I’ll keep doing. I had a meeting with my backroom team yesterday to take stock of what we’ve done and see what we can do better. You have to be self-critical to avoid standing still.”