Fiorentina defender Marin Pongracic was interviewed following the Viola’s draw with Genoa.

It was a tough start to the season, but Fiorentina fought long and hard and today you secured safety.

“It’s been a tough season. A lot of frustration, a lot of anger and disappointment. However, we did a good job at understanding what the situation was like and turned things around. It was anything but easy. We faced major obstacles, but in the end we did well and reached our objective.

Today’s match was a scrappy one, but you got what you wanted. 

“Yes, that point is what mattered. We managed not to concede any goals and keep a clean sheet. Of course, it wasn’t a beautiful game to watch; we could’ve done more, but the point we secured is what matters right now. We’ll review the match in the coming days.

Fiorentina can learn something from this negative season and do better next season.

“Each one of us has learned something from this season. As the coach and the Sporting Director said, it wasn’t easy, but we mustn’t forget where we were a few months ago and what we managed to achieve. We remained united. We played as a team, attacking and defending together. In the first half of the season, we lacked confidence, but the coach and the staff did a great job in terms of rebuilding our confidence. The club and the team must reflect on how this season went. Up until now, our goal was to avoid relegation. Now the club can think about the future and I’m sure they’ll do it well.”

You still have two matches left: one against Juventus and one against Atalanta.

“Now that we’ve avoided relegation, we can be more relaxed and show what we’re capable of doing. On past occasions, we showed that even against top teams we can perform well. That’s exactly what we have to do in these two upcoming games: we must give it our all.”

Your late president would be happy if he could see what you achieved today.

“Of course. I want to thank him and his family for giving so much to this city and this club. It’s not like winning a trophy, but to us it’s still an achievement because it’s been a very difficult season. We’re happy with what we’ve done and I’m sure that next season the club we’ll do everything in its power to reach great results.”