Genoa boss Daniele De Rossi was happy with how his side performed against AC Milan even if it didn’t bring a result.
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In truth, on another day Genoa could have had a different outcome against Milan, having dominated possession and territory for large parts of the match. Ultimately though a mistake from the goalkeeper Bijlow gifted the Rossoneri their opener, with Christopher Nkunku scoring from the spot.
Zachary Athekame fired in a second inside the final 15 minutes, then Vasquez made it a nervy finish by bundling in a sloppy goal from a Milan point of view. The Diavolo ultimately hung on to obtain a potentially massive victory in their pursuit of top four.
De Rossi spoke at a post-match press conference to give his thoughts on what was a bright performance from the Rossoblu that didn’t bring any points. MilanNews relayed his words.
If it hadn’t been for the penalty incident…
“We’ve also benefited from other teams’ mistakes on other occasions. That’s football. Against such strong teams, you have to be perfect. We saw the Milan eleven, and I think we played most of the game, controlling and dominating the game.
“Mistakes make the difference. Today, a young player made them. I ask my players to play the ball on the ground. It can happen. The blame is shared.”
There was a nice tribute from the stadium…
“It was a great experience. It was tough on some days, we lost some games, but we mathematically saved ourselves a couple of days ago and ideally saved ourselves four or five days ago. We can’t rest on our laurels, this team can’t avoid the fight, especially when you’re playing in a stadium.”
The team never gave up…
“I think it’s important for a coach to stay focused and on what he has to do. The credit for these solid performances, with important performances, goes to the lads. When players achieve survival a month or a month and a half beforehand, I’m not saying they give up, but there’s a bit of relaxation.
“There are players who are going to play in the World Cup in a month and don’t give up, Bijlow has a bit of bursitis. Except for half a half, they gave everything.”
For a certain point in the match, you had 11 men in Milan’s half. How did you judge Otoa’s performance?
“He played very well. I’m happy because he’s a starter for us. He’s one of the five or six starters we can build on. We’re very aggressive, we need to improve on what we did well in that part of the match. It’s the game we wanted to play, even if we didn’t produce much.”
How did you view Vitinha’s performance?
“With Vitinha, my idea is to raise the bar in one-on-one play in the future. Even though the squad will be made up of old-school full-backs, I also want to think about next year and play with two attacking full-backs.
“Today he was the best on the pitch; he never stopped. He has an incredible heart, giant lungs, and a bit of grit. He won’t let this go; I feel close to these players. He has the DNA of this club imprinted in him.”