Spalletti: "The lads gave it their all"

MILAN - "This defeat hurts, more so because the team played a good game, above all from the point of view of heart and legs". There was bitterness in the words of Luciano Spalletti following their defeat to Sassuolo during their penultimate game of the Serie A season on Saturday.

"We weren't good at winning the ball back quickly, they played it long early towards Politano and Berardi and with very wide wing backs it was possible to open us up. We spent a lot of energy trying to play the match at their level and with time we managed to raise our level tactically, but then we went 2-0 down and we became more disorganised as we tried to recover. It resulted in this scoreline which is above all a result of our own errors. We had a lot more chances than them but Sassuolo did what they needed to do apart from a few difficult moments.

“There was too much confusion in our play and we were not cutting enough as the game progressed, thinking that there wasn’t enough time to get ourselves organised. The time was there. We created important chances but we weren’t clinical enough in front of goal. We should’ve done better in dealing with their two strikers. We allowed them to run between our defence and midfielder, forcind us backwards and taking energy from our offensive play.

“There is bitterness because by winning this match we wouldn’t have had to wait for the Crotone vs. Lazio result and it would’ve been all left to play for at the Olimpico. The only consolation is that we gave our all in front of this splendid crowd tonight, one that is made for Champions League football.”