Fonseca: We needed to finish the chances we had

The Giallorossi were forced to settle for a point from their Serie A curtain-raiser at the Stadio Bentegodi, despite creating a number of openings - particularly in the first half - to break the deadlock.

Here's what the boss had to say about the game...

A bright first half, a tougher second half – what elements did you like and what didn’t you?

“I liked what the side did in the first half, it’s never easy to play against Verona but I thought the combinations between [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan, Pedro and [Lorenzo] Pellegrini and the crosses from [Leonardo] Spinazzola created openings that could have changed the course of the game.

“I didn’t like the fact we failed to convert good chances against a side that it is never easy to create chances against. In the second half I didn’t like how we played against the second ball, which meant we struggled to keep possession.”

You could see the potential on offer though, in some of the attacking moves…

“Yes, we had a lot of moments of quality play against a side that doesn’t really give you time or space to think. We had a lot of good interplay in dangerous areas and we did well defensively too. The main issue was with winning those second balls.”

Did you think about switching to a 4-3-2-1 at all?

“No, the side were doing well and could bring the ball out from the back as a three. With the long balls from Verona it was important to have defensive security – that’s why I didn’t consider it.”

Against a weakened Verona like this, couldn’t the side have done a bit more?

“We need to be more clinical with the chances we had – that’s the key thing. We created openings that could have seen us go into the break 2-0 or even 3-0 up, but we need to make sure we score – not just create.”

How are Bruno Peres and Rick Karsdorp doing?

“Bruno Peres only rejoined the group two days ago, because of the Covid protocols. Karsdorp played really well, we’ll have to see how he is. Spinazzola put in a great performance, he did very well.”