Sampdoria coach Marco Giampaolo was proud of victory over AC Milan.

Gigi Donnarumma's howler in the opening 33 seconds proved decisive, as Gregoire Defrel pounced for the winning goal.

“It was a prestigious victory, but also an important one to push us up the table," Giampaolo told Sky Sport Italia.

“Milan are a strong team and I really like them, as they have young, quality players. They were unbeaten in their last eight Serie A away games.

“I particularly appreciated that we kept the intensity going until the final whistle. We also played good football and you can't do that without quality players.

“This probably wasn't the most attractive Samp performance of the season, but the squad can call on other strengths when needed. It's difficult to qualify for Europe, as there are so many strong teams challenging. Only four or five weeks ago, people said we were out of the running after a defeat to Frosinone, but we're still here.

“We want to be competitive to the end of the season and see what happens."