Palermo coach Davide Ballardini is weary of his side’s opponents Sampdoria ahead of their encounter this weekend.
The two teams go head-to-head at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday afternoon and Ballardini remains impressed with the opposition, despite their 16th position in the Serie A table.
“Sampdoria are a better side than their position in the Serie A table suggests,” Ballardini told Sky Sport Italia.
“The Marassi is a difficult place to play and win so we must be careful.”
It is a return to the Marassi for Ballardini, who spent two stints as coach of cross-city rivals Genoa and the 51-year-old spoke kindly on his perception of the ground.
“It is a stadium which I am happy to return to, a stage built for football and only for football,” Ballardini noted.
Much of Palermo’s system relies on the efforts of talisman Franco Vazquez and the significance of the Argentine is not underestimated by his coach.
“Vazquez is a great player, we appreciate his importance especially when he isn’t in the lineup,” Ballardini concluded.
Palermo currently find themselves sitting in 14th place but are only a single point ahead of the Blucerchiati.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com