The Genoa coach reflects on the missed penalty at San Siro: “I didn’t like that attitude—we’re not the village idiots; the referee should have protected us.” And on the match against Cagliari: “We want to give our fans something to cheer about; we need points and wins. We’re more aware now.”

Genoa’s focus is on the match against Cagliari, but what happened at San Siro—with the “little hole” dug by Pavlovic before Sanciu’s penalty—disappointed the Genoa coach: “I didn’t like that attitude. A Milan player told me, ‘I want to win,’ and I can understand that—you’ll fight for everything. But given that jersey, given the prestige of that jersey, you’d expect different behavior.” He continued: “I’ve had my own moments in my career, but here we’re talking about great players and a great club. Protests are fine, but then let us take the penalty kick. The referee should have protected us there. That said, the referee officiated well, but we pointed out to him what happened. We could have been more careful in that moment; then again, penalties are missed—it happens. Milan is a tremendous club and San Siro is a tremendous stadium, but we’re not the village idiots, and we have to command respect.”

As for the upcoming match against Cagliari: “We came away from the match against Milan with a different mindset, even though we weren’t happy because the result could have been different. I saw solidity and cohesion. We’re studying Cagliari and respecting them, but we’ve started playing our game. We want to give our fans something to cheer about after that so-so performance against Pisa; we need points and wins.”