Yesterday on the pitch alone, today with Allegri: Rafa returned to Milanello before Pulisic and Gimenez
Racing towards a starting shirt: yesterday afternoon Leao began his personal preparation for the match against Fiorentina. For Rafa it’s better to talk about a run-up: he started off with momentum after returning from Portugal, he showed up at Milanello (yesterday there were only him and the young Cheveyo Balentien) and he seemed particularly dedicated to the cause. Leao’s mood varies but Rafa also knows that he must demonstrate continuity on the pitch. The program agreed with the Portuguese national team, thanks to the muscular problems at the beginning of the season, included Rafa’s availability for the first match against Ireland and then an early return to Milan, leaving his teammates with the task of beating Hungary and winning the world championship pass. All with the agreement of Leao who is now also running to recover positions in the Rossoneri: yesterday he carried out a personalized work session, today he will meet Allegri again and join the group, or at least his teammates who will already be at the sports centre. The second half against Fiorentina will say a lot: about the team’s ability to reorganize after the break, about the ability to concentrate the study of the opponent in a few days and also about the hierarchies of the attack. The answer will only come at the end of the week, once the group has been reinstated with the return of all the national players, but in the meantime the question arises: will Leao play from the start or will he still be the man of the final half hour?
comparison
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The agreements with Portugal satisfied everyone’s needs: the national team which needed to directly check the striker’s form and Milan which welcomed Rafa back on Monday. This is only the second time this has happened since the start of the championship: after the injury in his debut in the Italian Cup, mid-August, Leao was forced to stop for a month and a half. Back at San Siro on 28 September, against Napoli: Rafa’s availability had been the topic of the week, with the doubt resolved only on Friday, the day before the match, with the return to team work. Work that earned him partial use: twenty-one minutes against Conte. Only in the following week, in view of Juventus, did Leao train consistently: also due to his less than optimal form, Rafa still started from the bench. The entry onto the pitch wasn’t exactly comforting: two missed opportunities more due to laziness than imprecision. This is the reason for Allegri’s anger and the tension that led to the confrontation in the Stadium locker room.
competition
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Max and Rafa meet again today. With new awareness. And different physical conditions: after a whole week of work Leao can say he is fully recovered. If everything goes as it should go, he will be ready to play as a starter. At least in theory. In practice, the shirt must be won. The run-up that has already begun puts Rafa in an advantageous situation: he started work before the others, he tried the anti-Fiorentina schemes in advance of his teammates, and he will have more time than the competition to convince Max. Pulisic and Gimenez will only return on Friday after the match on the Italian night tomorrow and, with Christian’s ankle which remains to be evaluated; Nkunku is expected on Wednesday: yesterday’s super goal against France. The starters chosen so far have been the first two: Pulisic for quality, Santi for generosity. It is with them that Rafa has to compete: with Christian the duel is one of talent, and Leao could paradoxically be favored by his athletic condition. With Gimenez it’s a challenge to see who can help the team the most, and here Rafa must demonstrate that he has understood the lesson. For the first time in years, there is a lot of attacking competition: Nkunku, a highly adaptable offensive wildcard, is also threatening Leao. With the alibi of form that risks no longer holding up, for Rafa it’s an in or out. If he plays, first as a starter in Serie A, he will have re-established the attacking hierarchies. If he is excluded it could be – for the first time – due to technical choice.
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