Confirmation was needed and confirmation has arrived. On the other hand, Paulo Fonseca was very clear in the press conference: there’s no point in winning the derby if you don’t beat Lecce. No sooner said than done. Milan concludes the week that could have been characterized by the dismissal of the Portuguese coach with two brilliant victories: the one in the derby at Inter’s home 1-2 and the one against Lecce at San Siro 3-0. Ah, and the temporary first place in the rankings, just for fun.
Growth
From the break onwards, the Rossoneri team definitely changed gear. In the first three days of the championship only two points were achieved, the result of daring draws against Torino and Lazio, while in the following three matches there were a total of 9 points for a mouth-watering haul: 4-0 against Venezia, then the successes already mentioned against Inter and Lecce. It’s clear, nothing has been done and it’s still very early, but the encouraging signs from Fonseca’s Milan are arriving, also accompanied by the results.
Changes
So, so many things have changed in a week. Fonseca was one step away from dismissal and is now – momentarily – at the top of the table. The coach himself, however, is not surprised: “It’s the beauty of football. We always have to be balanced because things can change. It was important to win the derby, but for me it was very important to win today too. It’s not a criticism, but in recent years this team didn’t play positional football, but often counterattacked. Now we have to create spaces with rigorous positioning, doing things at the right time. The team did well today, but I want more.” Starting with Leverkusen, which is more than Lecce.