The crowd at the end of the game showed appreciation for the team's behavior and the fourth place that means Europe for the fourth consecutive season. It was also the night of farewells with official goodbyes and tributes to Aliseda, Valenzuela, Macek, Przybylko, Babic, and Arigoni before the starting whistle and the applause and chants from the fans at the end of the game.
REACTION OF THOSE WHO WANT TO WIN
On the tie with YB, coach Mattia Croci-Torti's opinion is clear: "It was a Lugano with very good personality that tried to play and play the game, we were facing a team that wanted to go to the Champions League and had scored six goals at the Basel. So they were definitely coming in much more positive than we were in the head and instead we saw so many positive dynamics from our side. Those 10 minutes against Basel had taken a lot of confidence out of us and it was not easy to react in Geneva. We did that in Lausanne and tonight the Tuilière point showed because we tried to play, to create, to be proactive and to win duels. It is a team that I liked, then it is true that too many times we take goals in one of the first and only offensive sorties of the opponent. The mea culpas are many but after their equalizer there was what we had not seen in the last period and that is the reaction of a team that wanted to go out and win at all costs."
OUT OF DOUBT
"We tried hard for the second goal, one was canceled for offside and another as well on their own goal. I reviewed the replay several times and honestly I don't know if such a goal is always canceled: in the end they judged the position of one of our players behind the defender to be active. So many times these situations are not sanctioned. However, we clenched our teeth looking for the three points until the last minutes and I think it was a Lugano that wanted to win it more than YB, we showed it from the beginning to the end. We wanted fourth place at all costs. I can only be proud of what my boys did and thank them because in the moments of difficulty we really could have had five games of suffering and instead even tonight we saw that the players wanted the victory at all costs, it's not just pride there was also quality. "
FOCUS ON OUR GAME
-Did the fact that your direct competitors were losing favor you?
"I looked at my phone the first time in the 82nd minute when Steffen and Vladi came on. I wanted to be focused only on our game, and I asked my team not to go up en masse when Servette scored 3-2 and it was a minute to go. I was interested in closing well and doing what we did, getting a point with YB, which was not a given, to be able to place fourth. We sought it, wanted it and took it. We could have taken the field without that conviction, knowing that in any case Lausanne was facing Servette in Geneva in a packed stadium for second place, with Custodio at right back, Poaty a central defender and half the team in the pits."
MOVIE ALREADY SEEN
"I tried to prepare our game as best as I could, and I think the boys, as said before, from the point of view of commitment but also of quality were really commendable. Then already in the first half we had chances to take the lead, and once we succeeded, the usual slip of defensive frailty allowed the opponents to equalize. But it's a movie we've seen before in recent months."
FOURTH YEAR IN EUROPE
-Mission accomplished for what was the last goal of the season within your grasp. How do you feel as one who has done his, are you a little drained and what else?
"I don't have a lot of feelings in my head right now. I wanted to push the boys-and I said this on Friday-by giving as much motivation as possible to make it clear that being able to go four years in a row in Europe is not a given. I'm not sure that the other teams that qualified as we did managed to play in the European Cups for four years. As I have said many times we dreamed of something bigger but with the path we had we knew at some point that winning Europe could be difficult. We still managed to give motivation to the team, we pushed and today we played a game without fear while it could have been the match of the braccino. I have no big feelings except to thank all the players, who in the end are the ones who determine the results, for their commitment and self-sacrifice. Everyone wanted to win and it showed until the end."
ONE REACTED TO THE DIFFICULTIES
"In the last two months we have experienced difficult moments-and we have always admitted it-but there have also been reactions, and that is what needs to be emphasized. We have not been complacent and limited to accepting fate and that dark moments conditioned our thoughts."
THANKS TO THE SIX STARTERS
-About the departures, you had said on the eve of the game that at the end of the game emotions could possibly be externalized. What do you feel like saying about the starting players that you partly deployed against YB? By the way, Aliseda hit a nice post.
"In the end, soccer is made up of moments in which we come together and others in which we leave each other. The important thing is what the boys have done in the journey with this jersey. The emotions are not only mine but those who have always supported these players and those who compared to others have had difficulties. I think of Macek with the bad injury he had, the last two suffering years of Aliseda and Valenzuela. Despite this they wanted to be there until the end, none of them allowed themselves to take their leg off or not sweat their jersey until the final whistle. They are people who accompanied my start as a coach and helped me and gave me great satisfaction. I can only thank them."
EUROPE LOOKS LIKE NORMALCY
"All six of them have been part of the history of these last two years, of a team that has always tried to be ambitious and that did a so-so Conference one year and a nice European ride the next. A group that dreamed of the championship last year and again this season until April. So they were part of a positive journey, of people who had a desire to take Lugano to the next step. Years ago you were here celebrating Europe with people going crazy on the pitch, today it seems natural. The team was able to give continuity and conviction to the project. It was fitting that the Lugano fans paid a warm tribute to these guys tonight."
MANAGING INDIVIDUAL DISCONTENTS
-Colleagues report to me some discontent from Valenzuela over the non-renewal of his contract and critical words from Aliseda about physical preparation and injury management. Do you pick up on any of their malaise at this time or is it all pretty quiet instead as they had a good game today?
"As I said before when there are difficulties you try to understand why a player is not performing. In a season you experience Always moments of individual discomfort or discontent. You have to be able to handle them and sometimes it is not easy. But if they all came with the desire to play the last game and the way they played it, it means that towards me they gave me a lot and I have always acknowledged that."
COMES OR STAYS WHO IS HUNGRY
-You have announced six departures of players with expiring contracts. Do you expect that other elements may leave the club?
"At the end of every season there are guys whose contracts are not renewed, then there are people who want to leave because they have found little space or those who have different ambitions than Lugano. On Monday in the press conference we will also clarify these aspects. In the end there will be people who will leave and others who will come. The important thing is that we try to follow the usual denominator anyway: that players who have this hunger or who are still hungry arrive or stay in Lugano. It is possible that some will be less hungry than others, and we have to be good at analyzing this aspect."
SWISS SPRINGBOARD
-Have you noticed this, have you sensed these feelings in any players?
"It's not that they are perceived, in Switzerland these are things that happen every season. I was talking about this with my YB colleagues: when you do well in the Champions League, players want to leave even Bern or Basel. When you do well in conferences like Lugano, it's human that someone wants to find other stages. It's a normal situation for insiders. Sometimes the fan who is more romantic has a hard time accepting it but the Swiss league is a springboard to get visibility and then go and play somewhere else. We have to be good these days to understand who still cares about the Lugano jersey and wants to sweat it out to the end that is the necessary base that which to build something important."
BISLIMS AND THE NATIONAL
-In this regard, the nonverbal communication of Bislimi, who comes out frowning and often picks up his teammates, seems clear. Is he among the players on whom you will make evaluations?
"Definitely the body language had seen him, but Uran is a player who until the last second tries to help the team. It's a part of his character that the current year maybe he was hiding. There are many things behind it, special situations like the national team for which he has a big ambition. I am the first one who has to try to help him be as positive as possible. He is definitely always hungry but he is the kind of guy who is not happy with the last few months both individually and collectively. A feeling that fits but needs to be changed because in addition to hunger you need positivity."
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