“Congratulations to the lads - they were amazing.” It’s a painful defeat but Gabriele Cioffi was keen to see the positives. Here’s what our coach had to say following Udinese’s 2-1 loss to Inter on Monday evening:
“Negative thoughts can suck you in and distract you from your objective. If we look at the left-hand side of the table we don't do our best, but if we dig deep and look at where we need to get to then we’ll get there. My team has quality, resilience and a spirit of self-sacrifice. It won't be easy, but we’ll make it.
“Regarding Florian Thauvin’s injury, even if you’ve got all of your players available Inter are a tough proposition. After performing so well for 95 minutes there’s a strong chance you can’t keep it going forever. The easiest thing now is to lay blame - I don't want to do that.
“Maduka Okoye made five or six amazing stops, then he made a naïve error. Lazar Samardzic showed great sacrifice. But everyone, from the defence to the two up front, did an incredible job. The players’ attitude was excellent. Festy Ebosele showed great desire as well.
“I’m no medical expert but Sandi Lovric and Florian aren’t looking good. I hope that I’m mistaken. We’ll fight hard and give it our all. I’m convinced that whoever replaces the absentees will do so in a more than adequate manner.”