On the importance of the victory

“I place enormous value on this win. It is the most important win of the 13 matches we have played. We allowed just one shot on target against a Venezia side that had created at least five chances in each of their previous games. Today, we gave our opponents nothing. We did not suffer and remained in control, especially during the final five minutes, when we managed the game very well.”

On the two penalty incidents

“It looked like a clear penalty to me. Before coming here, I asked for clarification and was told that it was not a penalty because Luis Milla did not move his arm towards the ball. Our penalty was clearer.”

On the pressure to win

“Two hours before every match, my wife sends me the same message: ‘We have to win today.’ We have had to win every game for the past three years.”

On Tasos Douvikas

“I saw a lot of top-level movement from Tasos. He made several intelligent runs and played a great game.”

On Mattia Liberali

“He played for 20 minutes. He could not have played any longer than that.”

On Samuele Ricci

“He is a great lad with an excellent mentality. If we can help him add something more to his game, he can become a top player and even play for the national team. He won the ball back countless times today. I am very happy with him.”

On the match against Lens

“On Wednesday, we will only have 16 players available, so everyone will have to be ready for the match against Lens.”