The post match of Venezia - Lecce

After the match between Venezia FC and Lecce, in the opening round of the 2026/27 Serie A Enilive season, which ended in a 0-2 victory for the Apulian side, head coach Giovanni Stroppa and defender Armel Bella Kotchap shared their thoughts on the game.

Giovanni Stroppa, Venezia FC head coach.
“We had an outstanding first half, in which we barely took any risks and created several clear chances. As for the second half, we should not have conceded after just fifteen seconds, and certainly not in the way we did. Then, after Basic’s goal was disallowed, we lost our shape a little. The performance was still excellent, regardless of the result, and there were improvements compared to the game against Modena. I want to thank the fans; the team tried to repay the enthusiasm they gave us. We have to keep working, and the answers the team has given us have been positive. This is the level of this league, and if you don’t score when you have chances like we did in the first half, this is what happens. The positive thing is that we created those opportunities, we put ourselves in the right positions to score and we did score, even though the goals were then rightly disallowed.”

Armel Bella Kotchap, Venezia FC defender.
“We played a good first half, keeping a lot of possession, and overall the only thing we were missing was a goal. I’m disappointed with the way we conceded the first one; I made a mistake in that situation. Despite the difficulty, we stayed in the game throughout. We are a young team with many new players, and we can only improve in these areas. I’m settling in very well and I always try to give my best to help the team. I also still have a lot to learn. I’m very positive about the next games.”