Domenico Di Carlo felt Sampdoria deserved better after they were dumped out of the Champions League in dramatic fashion by Werder Bremen.
Going into Tuesday night's second leg at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris 3-1 down, Samp were on the brink of reaching the group stages when a double from Giampaolo Pazzini and Antonio Cassano's 85th-minute strike put them ahead on aggregate.
But Markus Rosenberg levelled with seconds to go, before Claudio Pizarro won it for Bremen in extra-time.
"The team did not deserve that and the fans did not deserve it," Di Carlo told www.sampdoria.it.
"One mistake cost us dearly.
"Paradoxically we would have been better to stay at 2-0 and not score the third goal, which perhaps subconsciously made us believe we were through when the race wasn't over yet."
Di Carlo also bemoaned his bad luck in losing Fernando Tissone to injury just seven minutes after he himself had replaced Stefano Guberti in the second half.
"I brought on Fernando to give more consistency to the midfield, where the team was tiring," he said.
"Unfortunately his injury after only seven minutes wasted a substitution, sending us into extra-time with one fresh man fewer than our opponents."
One small piece of good news for Samp was that the injury suffered by Cassano, who was substituted late on, was thought to be nothing serious.
He may be ready to face Lazio on Sunday in Samp's Serie A opener.
"Now we start thinking about the Biancocelesti because we want to start well," said Di Carlo.
"Let's not forget we still have the Europe League and the Coppa Italia. It will be a demanding season."
