Milan Superstar Heaps Praise on Sergio Conceicao Despite Cagliari Nightmare | OneFootball

Milan couldn’t beat Serie A minnows Cagliari on Sergio Conceicao’s touchline debut in Italy’s top flight, drawing 1-1 at home. Despite dropping two potentially invaluable points, Rafael Leao hailed the new manager’s early impact at Stadio San Siro.

Furthermore, Leao insisted Milan ‘deserved three points‘ for bettering Cagliari on the pitch. However, wasteful finishing and Elia Caprile’s remarkable performance between the sticks condemned the Rossoneri to a sixth winless league outing from their last eight.

Alvaro Morata tapped home from close range to put Milan in front only six minutes into the second half. Four minutes later, Youssouf Fofana’s switch-off nudged Cagliari to an all-important equalizer, denying Conceicao a winning debut in Serie A.

“We wanted to win and climb the table. The first half was a bit strange, as we didn’t create many chances,” Leao told Sky Sport Italia via MilanNews. “It was better after taking the lead, but they focused on the counter-attack and waiting for our mistakes, which allowed them to score.

“I think, overall, we did enough to deserve all three points.“

But the only thing that matters is that Milan failed to beat Cagliari for the second time this season. In doing so, they squandered a golden opportunity to reduce the distance on fourth-placed Lazio.

Indeed, the 19-time Italian champions remain eight points adrift of the last Champions League qualification spot ahead of next week’s trip to newly-promoted Como.

Milan cannot afford a slip-up against Cesc Fabreges’ side, as anything other than three points in that fixture would significantly derail their top-four hopes.

Leao praised the changes Conceicao made since replacing Paulo Fonseca in the dugout.

“Mentality, the desire to always be in the opposition half, to push the other team back,” the Milan superstar stated. “This is what we are trying to do, we haven’t had much time to work, but he has already brought in his ideas and the players are trying to absorb what he wants.”