Yahoo Sports CorSport: ‘One of the strongest’ – Leao anonymous against Juventus despite Zlatan’s praise
Rafael Leao went into yesterday’s game against Juventus in good form, yet he was unable to keep it going as he had a largely anonymous performance.
Corriere dello Sport (via MilanNews) writes this morning how after the games against Real Madrid, Cagliari and with Portugal, the hope was that Leao could break the game open again versus Juventus.
However, he disappeared when his team needed inspiration and as a result Milan were unable to find a goal. The Rossoneri are now nine points off top, but which could become 10 if Napoli were to win this afternoon at home against Roma.
The one moment Leao had was when he surged into the box and went down claiming a penalty that was rightly not given. Aside from that he was barely seen, and that continues the trend of inconsistency, alternating high-level performances with ones like yesterday.
In such an important event as the match against the Old Lady, something more was definitely expected from someone like the former Lille man, especially after Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s pre-match words.
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“In my opinion, Leao doesn’t know how strong he is: when he realises that, it will all come out. He has this pressure because he is one of the strongest of all, otherwise there would be no talking,” he said.
“What do I tell him? It’s a balance, if you tell a person every day that he is the strongest it may be that he relaxes: it depends on the character of the player and who he is. In my case, I didn’t need anyone. Even he with experience has to switch on.”
The problem, the paper adds, is that in an important match like the one against Juventus, Leao was unable to demonstrate it.
