Did PSV surprise you at Dragão? “It’s clear that PSV is a good team. The coach and I, in particular, know their qualities well, perhaps better than many others, because we have already faced this team in several games in the Netherlands.”
Team performance: “In the first half, I think PSV played very well, but they weren’t able to score. We also had opportunities to gain an advantage, but we weren’t able to take advantage of them. At half-time, we corrected some things and, in the second half, we played better than in the first. Once again, we had opportunities, but we couldn’t score, while PSV managed to do so. The Champions League is like that: when we have opportunities, we need to take them to get the result we want. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the results we wanted in the last three games, but We still have five games to go. We have to give everything and I believe we can do much better.”
What did Francesco Farioli ask for? “We were asked, naturally, to create spaces, not only for ourselves, but also for our teammates. In the second half, we managed to do that much better. The team was better than in the first half, although it was difficult to play against a team that presses so high and so aggressively. Still, we created enough opportunities to win the game. But, once again, we were unable to take advantage of them, while the opponent managed to score. In the Champions League, it’s the small details that make the difference. I hope May we improve, learn from this experience and perform better in the next games.”
Is progress to the next stage still possible? “Yes, without a doubt. Taking into account my experience in the last two seasons in which I participated in the Champions League, I believe that we can still reach the round of 16. At the very least, we have to fight to achieve a score that allows us to continue in the competition. We still have 15 points to play for, so we need to stay together, remain positive and improve with each game.”
