While they got praise for their positive brand of football under Giampaolo, Sampdoria failed to reach an European spot last year. The Blucerchiati's objective for the final stretch of the season is to show that they have become more mature and that they have what it takes to return to European football. Coach Marco Giampaolo discussed the Europa League race and many other topics in an interview with La Stampa: "Atalanta have a great mentality, Torino have been build to reach that goal, while Fiorentina has quality", Giampaolo said.
The coach was also asked about his team's upfront duo, that got the headlines lately for different reasons: "Quagliarella knows how it feels to win trophies, he experienced that in big clubs and he has brought it here to benefit the team. Defrel caught drinking and driving? I said to him: <Next time, call me and I'll drive you home>. One of my former coaches Galeone used to say that if you drin and win you are considered a connoisseur, if you drink and lose you are considered an alcoholic".
Finally, Giampaolo revealed his secret dream for his career: "My dream is to coach Barcelona, but since I have seen all kinds of stuff in my career I've lost interest in such things".
