How Leao recovered for Milan: From Fonseca snubs to dismantling Madrid | OneFootball

Rafael Leao looked at his absolute best during Milan’s emphatic 3-1 victory away against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night, despite being dropped to the bench for each of his side’s last three Serie A matches.

Here is how the topsy-turvy 2024-25 season has gone for the Portugal international so far.

A rough Milan start leads to Lazio controversy

Milan’s season, on a collective level, got off to a rough start after a 2-2 draw against Torino on the opening weekend, which required two Rossoneri strikes after the 89th minute, and was then followed up by a 2-1 loss to newly-promoted Parma the weekend after.

The following season brought the first major blow of the season for Leao. He, along with close friend and colleague on the left flank Theo Hernandez were dropped to the bench for the eventual 2-2 draw against Lazio. Fonseca’s ‘big call’ caused quite a stir among Rossoneri supporters.

With Milan 2-1 down in the second half, Leao and Theo Hernandez emerged as second-half substitutes. It took just two minutes for the Portuguese to get himself on the scoresheet.

Then, as the teams gathered around their coaches for a mid-half cooling break, Leao and Theo Hernandez were the only two players who did not make their way over to the touchline to listen to their boss, later claiming that they did not need refreshments as they had just come on as subs.

That incident led to further criticism for both players, with Paolo Di Canio claiming that they ‘would have been punched’ in his day.

Ups and downs again for Leao in 2024-25

Leao responded to his critics with two assists in a 4-0 victory over Venezia after Milan returned from the international break after the Lazio draw. He was also in the starting line-up for the massively encouraging 2-1 victory over reigning Serie A champions Inter and then got another assist against Lecce the following game.

He has not yet scored in any competition since the game against Lazio, however.

Milan were then beaten 2-1 by Fiorentina in a miserable performance at the beginning of October, and Leao was dragged off after 73 minutes.

Since then, Leao has started each of Milan’s most recent Serie A matches on the bench; against Udinese, Napoli and Monza. Reports suggest that he would have also been left out against Bologna had that game not been postponed as well.

All is forgiven in Madrid

Leao’s exclusion from the starting Milan line-ups has not applied in the Champions League. He has, in fact, started in all four of his side’s European bouts this term.

The Madrid game, however, was the first time Leao had featured in the starting XI since mid-October in a 2-1 win against Club Brugge.

From the off, the Portugal international looked back to his best, was electrifying on the ball and caused Real Madrid endless difficulties on the left flank. His night ended with two assists for Alvaro Morata and Tijjani Reijnders.

Leao’s post-match message on social media indicates that he was raring to prove himself, as he implied that he has been ‘hustling’ behind the scenes.

Though he was being criticised by various Italian outlets just a few weeks ago, Leao seems to have turned it around for now, as La Gazzetta dello Sport labelled him ‘world class’ after his excellent performance against Real Madrid.