Silvano Focarelli / TREVISO
Amerino Zatta can breathe, who attended the event of the season with satisfaction: his Benetton who managed to breach what was once an almost impregnable fort.
«For us it is a very important victory, first of all because it allowed us to pass the round, always a very important fact. Of course, we made many mistakes, especially in the first half, due to the great tension we had on us. Then anyway, as the minutes went by, the boys broke up, they never gave up and in the end we managed to grasp this fundamental success. All good at overcoming a delicate moment. Now Saturday we have another French player, Montpellier, we hope to continue on this path ».
Sporting director Antonio Pavanello is in the mood for jokes: «Well, we can say that we are the first Italian to move to the quarterfinals of a European Cup. Also, if we exclude the 0-28 at the table, in Challenge we are unbeaten. At least on the field… ». And maybe, let’s add, given that we get along well with the French, Montpellier is better than the Warriors. Now the more serious analysis, the technical one: «We started contracted, we probably felt the pressure, which then moved on to them and in the end it went well. It’s nice to have finally won also in Monigo, now the season has become a little less bitter ».
Obviously, coach Kieran Crowley also gloats: «The match was always open, we lost possession too many times and this could have brought further pressure; but when we had the chance to do it, we did it. This season we have found ourselves in the same situation several times and we have not been able to win, having finally succeeded makes us very happy. We have a lot of work to do for next week, it will be tough against Montpellier. Nobody expects that we will be able to win away from home, but as I said to the boys we must rejoice in this result and from tomorrow we will think about the next challenge. We are in this competition to win it, it is a knockout stage. We will play against Montpellier away from home, and I repeat that probably no one believes that we can be competitive against such a team. Each season has a story of its own, made up of ups and downs, we hope they are not in shape that day. We will prepare the match in the best possible way during the week and then we will see what happens ». –
And. Fo.