Giampaolo: “Inter are a strong side but we’re going there to play our game”

Sampdoria are back in league action this weekend against Inter at the San Siro. The home side have experienced a real turnaround since Stefano Pioli took over as manager and have their eyes firmly fixed on reaching third place in the table. Marco Giampaolo is fully aware of the challenge his team faces, but in the pre-match news conference he was quick to underline that Sampdoria are going to play their own game in Milan, measuring themselves against their opposition.

With nine games left in this league season, Doria will look to use this final run of games to end on a positive note and lay the foundations for the next campaign. “We need to leave something positive in our wake,” the coach said, “reaching a good knowledge of our tasks, which we’ll then build on next season”.

Luis Muriel will be missing through injury, meaning Fabio Quagliarella will be partnered by Patrik Schick in attack. “The individual characteristics may change, but for the team very little changes,” the coach continued. “We’ll not only miss his goals but the sense of danger Muriel brings and which he transmits to the rest of the team. But Schick is clearly more of a player than when he arrived. We shouldn’t expect him to win games on his own – he’s still only 20 years old. He needs to approach all this with a calm head.”