Sampdoria boss Marco Giampaolo prepares to face his old club Empoli, but won’t let Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina off the hook.
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“Empoli was a fundamental stepping stone for me to get my career back on track,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
Sampdoria boss Marco Giampaolo prepares to face his old club Empoli, but won’t let Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina off the hook.
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“Empoli was a fundamental stepping stone for me to get my career back on track,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“I have a sense of gratitude towards the club and have expressed that many times. Now it’s a difficult game, like the others, because I know how good the Empoli players are. It means we must play a real Samp performance to win it.”
The Blucerchiati are still smarting after their last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Napoli last week, when Reina made a meal of Matias Silvestre’s touch to get the defender sent off.
Samp demanded video evidence be used against Reina for simulation, but it was inadmissible in the circumstances.
“I don’t want to talk about it, as this is still an open wound. I’ll just say we put in a top-level performance. Reina was sneaky. He’s hardly alone, as Diego Maradona won the World Cup, so he’s a genius.”
The reference was to Maradona’s famous ‘Hand of God’ moment, punching the ball into the net during the 1986 World Cup encounter with England.
“Now we have to make sure we’re competitive even without Silvestre and play with the right spirit. Vasco Regini has experience in the centre of defence, but Angelo Palombo can play there too.
“I have no doubts in midfield, because both Karol Linetty and Denis Praet will start. Luis Muriel and Patrik Schick can play together, but sacrifice makes the difference to maintain that balance. Nowadays nobody can afford to sit back and not collaborate with the rest of the team.”
Edgar Barreto is ruled out in midfield, joining Carlos Carbonero and Jacopo Sala on the sidelines.
Sampdoria squad for Empoli: Krapikas, Puggioni, Tozzo; Amuzie, Bereszyński, Dodô, Pereira, Palombo, Pavlovic, Regini, Skriniar; Alvarez, Cigarini, Djuricic, Fernandes, Linetty, Praet, Torreira; Budimir, Muriel, Quagliarella, Schick