Sinisa Mihajlovic admits Juventus” data-scaytid=”3″>Juventus deserved the victory, but was pleased his Sampdoria” data-scaytid=”4″>Sampdoria “did not come here to defend.”
Sinisa Mihajlovic admits Juventus deserved the victory, but was pleased his Sampdoria “did not come here to defend.”
The Blucerchiati were beaten 4-2 in Turin and made the Serie A leaders work hard for a 12th consecutive win.
“We have to tip our hats to Juventus, as when they raised the tempo they were superior, there’s no doubt about it. I was pleased the lads never let their heads drop and continued to play good football, which isn’t easy,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“This is a young team that came to the Juventus Stadium and scored two goals, forced several Gigi Buffon saves and hit the bar. That is not to be sniffed at.
“We deserved to lose the game, but my players did their absolute best tonight and we caused them problems.”
Sampdoria nearly made it 3-3 when Manolo Gabbiadini’s screamer thumped the crossbar.
“It wouldn’t have been fair to equalise, but on 3-2 we did hit the bar and if that had gone in for 3-3 then we’d have to see how it ended. The difference is made with great players like Paul Pogba, who scored a fantastic goal.
“We did not come here to defend ourselves and that is the most important thing. We need to improve in terms of character and experience, learn to play with someone pressing them and be more determined when there are scoring opportunities.
“This performance showed the lads they are on the right track, as if we can keep playing like this and improve on those issues, we can achieve safety from relegation.”
Mihajlovic was famous for his extraordinary free kicks and is impressed with the ballistic expertise of Gabbiadini.
“In some situations he shoots even better than me. I usually only did well from set plays, but he can shoot with movement too.”