Sampdoria coach Claudio Ranieri confirms it was his idea to give Inter the guard of honour following their Scudetto success. ‘This is sport.’
The Blucerchiati went on to lose 5-1 at San Siro, with goals from Alexis Sanchez, Roberto Gagliardini, Lautaro Martinez and Andrea Pinamonti.
“It’s a pity, as we conceded straight away and then just as we got back into it, we then conceded another straight away,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.
Sampdoria coach Claudio Ranieri confirms it was his idea to give Inter the guard of honour following their Scudetto success. ‘This is sport.’
The Blucerchiati went on to lose 5-1 at San Siro, with goals from Alexis Sanchez, Roberto Gagliardini, Lautaro Martinez and Andrea Pinamonti.
“It’s a pity, as we conceded straight away and then just as we got back into it, we then conceded another straight away,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“Inter were playing on the wings of enthusiasm and we were not our usual selves. All credit to Inter, and a bit of it was our fault.
“We wanted to do well, because we knew that Inter wanted to celebrate and we didn’t want to be the victims. We know often Inter can sit back and hit you on the counter, but this time they played with far more freedom and enjoyment than usual. We just watched.”
Sampdoria literally watched at the start, as they stood either side of the tunnel to give Champions of Italy Inter a guard of honour, something often seen in England, but rarely in Italy.
Inevitably, it was Ranieri’s idea, a gentleman who spent so many years in the Premier League.
“I told Quagliarella and the lads it would be good to mark the occasion the way they do in England, and they immediately agreed with me.
“This is sport. I believe sport should be in these tiny gestures, especially for a team that won with four rounds to spare. We had it at Leicester, receiving the guard of honour at Chelsea in the next game.”
GUARD OF HONOUR. Stile Sampdoria pic.twitter.com/d7IymBcuxa
— Daniele Mari (@marifcinter) May 8, 2021