Unconvincing performance from the Portuguese, replaced at half-time due to physical discomfort. Yet another opaque test, in a season with no middle ground
“A hip problem,” Allegri replies to the most obvious question of Tuesday evening. Why did he remove Leao at half-time? There is a physical problem, Milan know it: Rafa struggles to make shots. Of course, other coaches would have left him on the pitch, they would have given him an extra quarter of an hour purely for status, for his ability to improvise without a script. Allegri no, because Atalanta are going strong, they don’t lower the pace, they force you to duel all over the pitch. And so, two considerations come to mind in the end. The first: Milan did better without Leao and Gimenez, with Nkunku and Loftus-Cheek up front. The second: the relationship between Allegri and Leao remains particular. Great respect, criticism, goals, early substitutions. All compressed into three months, intense praise and criticism, zero banality.
ZERO SHOTS, FOUR TURNOVERS
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Max Allegri’s complete explanation is this: “Leao trained after Pisa but there was a need for people who sprinted, who went. That’s why I replaced him. The injury? It shouldn’t be anything major.” Then an official defense: “The fact that Milan, with him as the starter, conceded 4 goals in 3 games is a coincidence. There are times when you concede and others when you don’t concede.” Everything normal, go. Also because Leao hadn’t kicked in those 45 minutes, he had made just 6 passes (one every 7 and a half minutes…) and he had never crossed, just one dribble to add to 4 turnovers. Even at school it wouldn’t have been enough.
OWNER WITH ROMA
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Leao’s season then, as and more than ever, does not have half measures. With Fiorentina he scored twice and turned the game around, he took responsibility, he was the cover man. Between Pisa and Atalanta it was like any other. In the stands, during the second half, he was framed with his face hidden under a hood and a hat, as if he were at the North Pole, far from Bergamo. Milan must thaw their hearts, because Roma are five days away on Sunday evening. There is time to recover everything: the smile, the spirit, the sprint. Even the hip.
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