Milan returned galactico, at the Bernabeu, on the evening that brought to the minds of the Rossoneri fans the real nights of the Champions League, those of the absolute protagonists. A perfect match, a perfect result, a perfect Leao. Already, Rafa Leaothe most discussed man of Paulo Fonseca’s first months at the helm of the Devil: from the cooling break together with Theo Hernandez in Rome against Lazio, spent on the opposite side of the pitch from the bench, up to the many games in the shadows, which led the coach to make the strongest decision: exclusion and consecutive benching. Until last Tuesday, when on the night in Madrid, the Portuguese with the number 10 on his back returned to the starting line-up, and had an 8-point match on his report card. An answer to criticism, an answer to all those who wonder if he can really be decisive when it counts. But the question that arises spontaneously is: what is the real Leao?
From problem to extra weapon: the line is thin.
We don’t kid ourselves and we try to be honest. This season the Portuguese has been more of a problem than a resource for Milan: we talked about the cooling break, but then there is the substitution in the Champions League with a goal scored by Milan shortly after against Club Brugge. The images that filmed him while he was still returning to the bench spoke clearly and in Leao’s face the discontent with the change was perhaps almost more evident than the happiness with his teammates’ goal. Details, but they are worth a lot. Here, against Real Madrid Leao was the extra weapon, with his bursts, with his incisiveness, with the desire that often didn’t seem to be there but which instead we saw at the Bernabeu. Now we need the litmus test, however, we need continuity, and it will be a job to be done together, by Fonseca and Leao himself. Because the number 10 is too important.
Just as important are the points that Milan have put in the Champions League standings, reopening all the discussions that seemed closed after the first two days. Both with Inter and against Real we saw a great Milan, but looking at it from another point of view we cannot help but think of the fact that it is not possible for Milan to play Milan only on big occasions. The points are important, of course, but so are the small points. Fonseca said that it is more complicated to play against Monza than against Real Madrid, but that cannot be the case if you lead a great team.
The outsiders for the scudetto?
Speaking of great teams: Atalanta, above all, but also Lazio and Fiorentina, are experiencing a fantastic start to the season, on all fronts. La Dea has just given three home goals to Napoli, the Biancocelesti have full points in the Europa League, alone at the top, and the Viola have indeed lost against APOEL in the Conference, but are still coming off 5 consecutive victories in Serie A Can all three even think about staying at the top until the end of the championship? As far as Fiorentina is concerned it is unlikely, given that the length of the squad does not suggest this and in any case the new project was born this year. Lazio were recently born, like the Viola, but they seem more “ready”, even if perhaps not for the scudetto yet. And Atalanta? Atalanta has the obligation to try, because the victory in the Europa League gave a lot, because its squad can manage the three fronts, because Gasperini is the Alex Ferguson of Serie A, because the project started from afar and because it’s right that Bergamo daydreams.