Torino boss Walter Mazzarri has claimed his side didn’t deserve to lose after ‘dominating’ Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Europa League play-off first leg tie.
Wolves returned to Molineux with a 3-2 lead in the bag after a memorable night at the Stadio Olimpico. They benefited from an early own goal from Torino defender Bremer before Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez also struck.
Lorenzo De Silvestri and Andre Belotti were on target for the hosts and Mazzarri insisted Torino were hard done by when he spoke to reporters after the match - also making a point about the difference in spending power between the teams.
“We started a little tense, we took too long to pass the ball around and we didn’t have the fluid passing that we usually do. Even though we had 12 shots on goal and 63 per cent possession, we didn’t make the most of it,” the former Watford manager told Sky Sport Italia.
“Wolves showed their greatest strength was the counter-attack, pace and powerful players who surge forward. They showed that against all the big English clubs too, not just us.
“We made some defensive errors that we don’t usually make and the result was excessive. We didn’t deserve to lose. Wolves have extraordinary financial resources and so naturally when they can pay €40m for a single player, they’re going to have a lot of quality in the squad.
“We were meant to double up on the goal with Adama Traore, Soualiho Meite was meant to double the marking, but he stopped half-way and that left a big gap. We should’ve chased them down with greater vehemence.
“We should’ve been more courageous in pressing Raul Jimenez, who is such a talent. These games are decided on incidents, we hit the crossbar and they scored at the first real chance. People say they want possession, but football is something else. We saw today that we dominated possession and still lost 3-2.
“Football is strange, we will try to go there and play with less apprehension, more of a relaxed approach, and maybe it’ll be a different game.
“I believe, I want the team to believe with me and if we play the way we have done in the past, we can still do it.”
