Walter Mazzarri said Torino “made it seem far easier than it was” to beat Debrecen 3-0 in the Europa League and praised Simone Zaza.

The first leg of the preliminary round ended 3-0 in Alessandria thanks to an Andrea Belotti penalty, Cristian Ansaldi strike from an improbable angle and late Zaza header from a corner.

The second leg is in Hungary on August 1, but Mazzarri had said the most important thing was a clean sheet and they achieved it.

Walter Mazzarri said Torino “made it seem far easier than it was” to beat Debrecen 3-0 in the Europa League and praised Simone Zaza.

The first leg of the preliminary round ended 3-0 in Alessandria thanks to an Andrea Belotti penalty, Cristian Ansaldi strike from an improbable angle and late Zaza header from a corner.

The second leg is in Hungary on August 1, but Mazzarri had said the most important thing was a clean sheet and they achieved it.

“The lads started this season the way they finished the last and made it seem far easier than it was. We suffocated Debrecen in their own half and didn’t let them go on the counter, which was a real danger,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.

“If we want to be really picky, then we should’ve scored the third goal earlier, especially with the chances we created, but that’s a minor quibble.

“We’ve done nothing yet, we must go to Hungary aiming to play a similar game and book our place in the next round.”

Toro played with a 3-4-3 formation and Daniele Baselli took on a slightly different role.

“We made a tactical adjustment with Baselli and that was the turning point in the match, because Baselli was always first to the rebounds and stopped them going on the counter. He did really well both defending and attacking as a deep-lying playmaker.

“Zaza came off the bench and really helped the team, he created three chances and fought hard. He gave us the boost we needed for the third goal.

“He is involved with the squad, he has understood what I want from him and that’s the advantage of starting this season with pretty much the same side as last year, we didn’t take long to get back into gear and have a quick recap.

“I’ve always liked to play between the lines, but we need to improve our finishing, as Alex Berenguer and Iago Falque did so well getting to the edge of the box and must now convert those chances with more determination.”

Mazzarri was asked if he was looking for some new signings over the summer, seeing as the team is practically untouched from last term.

“We want to go as far as possible in Europe and the Coppa Italia, but also continue the great results we had in the second half of the season. It’s not easy to find better players than we have right now, but we do need to bring in a few more players to provide alternatives over the course of a season.”

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