The president of Livorno has admitted that he hopes his team get knocked out of the UEFA Cup so they can focus on their Serie A campaign.
After Sunday’s goalless draw with Empoli, Livorno owner Aldo Spinelli questioned the wisdom of coach Daniele Arrigoni’s fielding his strongest eleven in this season’s UEFA Cup.
“I don’t want to criticise Arrigoni but the fact is that we don’t have the strength to play in both the UEFA Cup and Serie A.
“I hope will be out of Europe soon. We are having a mediocre season and Serie A is our priority,” Spinelli told Italy’s Sky Sport television.
Livorno are away to Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade on Thursday in the UEFA Cup and Arrigoni said he had no intention of risking his side’s chance of progressing in European competition.
“You can say that we are not at our peak at the moment but knocking ourselves out of the UEFA Cup seems ridiculous to me. I rotate the squad regularly and maybe some players will be rested but one thing is for sure – I will decide the team line-up as I always do,” Arrigoni coach said.
Livorno are in Group A in the UEFA Cup along with Partizan, Rangers, Maccabi Haifa and Auxerre.
