Ranieri: “Spezia were the better team”

Sampdoria did not produce a performance to be proud of for Claudio Ranieri, who provided his analysis of the 2-1 defeat at the Stadio Picco at the hands of Spezia. “We were too nervous tonight. It wasn’t a good performance by us. On the other hand, Spezia deserved it and took their chances. We had the opportunities in the first half, but failed to take them. We then lost our way and didn’t manage to penetrate and hurt them. We wanted to turn in a good display, but they were more determined than us and we conceded from a corner and a penalty.”

The coach spoke of his surprise at the team’s unusual failure to come out on top in individual battles: “We lost all the duels and second balls, which is something we’re usually good at. They wanted the win more than us. I’m not blaming [Balde] Keita because he was a constant threat to their defence. I don’t like leaving [Fabio] Quagliarella on the bench because he’s our leader and goalscorer. We know, however, that some fixtures don’t match up with our captain’s attributes and that’s how I explain the decision to leave him out tonight.”