Milan, farewell to the Fantastic 4: Leao super wildcard from the bench

Is the four-star Milan already a thing of the past? Sergio Conceiçao is also asking himself this question, after the latest negative results with Pulisic, Joao Felix, Leao and Gimenez on the pitch from the start. The elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Feyenoord and the defeat against Torino have complicated the Rossoneri season terribly. And in these three matches the "Fantastic 4" have barely produced one goal in 168' together, the one from a dead ball by Gimenez against the Dutch in the return match at San Siro. Too little, despite the offensive production, in terms of created chances, having increased. Conceiçao still believes in the comeback to hit the minimum seasonal objective, the fourth (or fifth, if the UEFA ranking helps) place which is worth a ticket to the Europe that counts. Difficult, but not impossible, provided they make a change already on Thursday in Bologna in the recovery against the rossoblù. The key to doing it? For the coach, it's balance, even if it means giving up one of the four Rossoneri musketeers. And the number one suspect is Rafa Leao .

In Turin, the Portuguese striker remained in the locker room at half-time, after 45 minutes of listlessness, not even returning to the bench to see his teammates in the second half. What requests from Conceiçao were not met by Rafa? The usual ones: Leao doesn't chase or come back when he loses the ball and helps the team too little in the defensive phase. They are more or less the same accusations as always against the number 10 of the Rossoneri. But if in a more cautious line-up an "indolent" player can be tolerated or at least covered by his teammates, in a Milan with four strikers no, especially if Leao is then unable to make an impact offensively as his undeniable talent would promise. So, in Bologna we could see a more balanced team, but without Rafa's forays down the left wing.

It's not the first time in 2024-25. From Fonseca to Conceiçao, Leao has started from the bench on nine occasions, coming on as a substitute in eight (the only game in which he sat out the entire 90 minutes was the 1-0 win against Udinese at San Siro, with Milan down to ten men from half-time following Reijnders' red card). And in at least five of these games, he has left his mark with a goal or an assist. From the first against Lazio at the Olimpico (he scored the goal for the final 2-2, on the night of the famous cooling break of discord in tandem with Theo Hernandez) to the last against Verona at San Siro (winning pass for Gimenez's 1-0). In between, there were also goals against Empoli and Slovan Bratislava, plus the decisive assist for Abraham in the Super Cup final in Riyadh against Inter. Leao is a problem for opposing defenses during a match, because with his speed he is even more difficult to counter by tired players or perhaps already booked. It is clear that there is also the other side of the coin: it is not easy to make a star like Rafa accept the bench, who is also the highest paid player in the squad, especially in a problematic moment like the current one for Milan.