Giampaolo: “Our best performance – with no pressure”

Marco Giampaolo revelled in a thoroughly enjoyable home win as Sampdoria celebrated confirmation of another season in Serie A with a comprehension defeat of Fiorentina.

“We had no pressure on us whereas they did,” the coach began. “Handling pressure is not easy. You feel a lot of weight on your shoulders when you’re fighting to stay up and we saw how different it is without that weight today – it was our best performance.

“The players deserve credit for keeping us up. Our place in the top flight may have been confirmed last night but we validated it on the pitch today.

“Criticism comes with the territory. I take it and get on with the job. The best answer for me is when my players play like they did today.”

The coach then commented on yet another sublime goal by Fabio Quagliarella: “The goal he scored today was Fabio through and through – only he scores goals like that.

“There’s not much to say when a player reaches the age of 39 in the condition he’s in. He’s incredibly professional and he loves this club. I came back to a player who was even more mature and even better than before. He helps me more in lots of things – both small and not so small.”

Giampaolo also looked ahead to the future: “We needed to show a bit of love for ourselves today. The fact there’s an automatic renewal doesn’t mean anything. You have to do things the right way. A club like Sampdoria should not be on 36 points at this stage. We must go again with clear ideas. It’s over to the club now.”