PRESS ROOM | President Giulini speaks
After Cagliari-Lecce, the microphones were also passed to Rossoblu president Tommaso Giulini. He expressed the happiness shared with the team for today’s victory, but also the desire to properly honor Gigi Riva just days before the anniversary of his passing on January 22. It was an opportunity for a quick update, already looking ahead to the match against Torino on Friday night.
REMEMBERING GIGI
“Winning today with three substitutions coming off the bench is a great sign for the team, even more so in the week leading up to the anniversary of Gigi Riva’s death. Arriving at that date with a victory and a few consecutive positive results, unlike other times when we weren’t able to properly honor Gigi’s memory, is very important. On Wednesday, at the Mass in his memory (at 6 PM in Bonaria, ed.), many of us will be there, and we’re happy to be able to honor him in this way, as he would have wanted. We go to Torino with determination, awareness, and the values we’re steadily strengthening.”
MAINTAINING HUMILITY
“We are satisfied with the three points and with three consecutive positive results. We accept the applause, but without losing humility, just as when we lost games we didn’t get depressed and kept working. Today we’re happy, but we know the road is long. This is the victory of the team; the substitutions changed the game, and in that sense, we truly realize the strength of the collective, the combination of the more experienced players who are on the pitch and our younger ones.”
THE JOURNEY
“We’ve grown since the defeat against Empoli at the start of the season, after which I spoke with the media because we were going through a tough time. We worked hard, and we realized that there are certain characteristics that need to be on the pitch, otherwise, you won’t survive. That defeat, along with the one in Venice at the end of 2024, helped us understand what’s truly needed, and we hope to avoid those kinds of performances and results in the future. We need to remain humble, focus on Friday night’s match in Torino, proud of what we’ve done today but aware that what we need is hunger and determination, which at times were missing, especially in some direct confrontations.”
TODAY’S MATCH
“Lecce is a very compact and organized team. We faced a strong side that had an excellent first half, and we were punished for our first mistake, as sometimes happens. However, our reaction was great, and the crowd supported us massively, as they always should, especially in moments like the first half today.
Transfer market? Last year in January, we brought in Mina and Gaetano, who were extremely important for us. I hope I can say the same about Caprile this year. Director Bonato is working hard to find what we need. In the meantime, today’s satisfaction comes from winning an important match against a strong, well-coached team that beat us in the first half of the season. Lecce has Italian ownership and is one of the few clubs like us in that regard. They are doing good work, and I really like Giampaolo, who’s been doing a great job since he arrived.
I also want to add that today’s game reminds me of the match against Ascoli, which was a turning point for us with Ranieri in Serie B. Hopefully, this analogy will hold true by the end of the season. We need to maintain humility without any mood swings, focusing on Torino without lowering our guard. We can’t afford to have defeats like the one in Venice, where we threw the game away.”
STEP BY STEP
“It took time for us to gel, with a new team, a new path under coach Nicola, and only a few friendlies in the summer. There were ideas to discover and develop. Against Empoli, we lost to a team in great form, and today Lecce resembled them, which makes this victory particularly meaningful.
Zortea? He started the season a bit shy, but now he’s one of the top-scoring full-backs in Europe, and he needs to keep pushing and not settle. He has huge potential, just like Adopo, who still needs to fully realize the great future he can build for himself. And with them, many other players, more or less experienced.
Offers? So far, there’s not much. I don’t see any of our players really leaving. I’ll also add that we’re very careful about who we might sell, because today’s victory was for everyone, from the first to the last, both the experienced players and the youngsters. So we’ll assess things carefully if any real offers come for our players.”
