However, a sterling final 20 minutes saw the Italians dot down through Giulio Toniolatti, Giulio Bisegni and a penalty try - despite prop Dario Chistolini being sin-binned for half of that period - meaning the score read a more respectable 27-19 at full-time.
Zebre will now have a chance to replicate that final-quarter performance for a full 80 minutes when they welcome La Rochelle to Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Saturday afternoon.
And while his troops were unlucky to narrowly miss out on at least a losing bonus point in western France, Guidi acknowledges that their slow start was ultimately their downfall.
"We left France with the positives of the last 20 minutes where the team, even when we were outnumbered numerically, showed the spirit that was also needed to start the game," explained Guidi.
"We were trying to create turnovers, so I'm glad that we managed to take advantage of the opportunities.
"We scored three tries in 20 minutes with our front row of [Andrea] Lovotti, [Tommaso] D'Apice and [Pietro] Ceccarelli matching their pack - a strong point of La Rochelle - and they did very well.
"Unfortunately we had already given away two tries to our opponents from restarts after our possession.
"We will now prepare for the second game with La Rochelle and we're certainly looking forward to a rematch after our strong finish."
To buy tickets for the GUINNESS PRO12 Grand Final click here. Also follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12.
Guinness PRO12 Zebre News
63x46.png){kind=logo}