Rafael Leao continues to be hot topic of discussion due to his lacklustre performances. After being benched for 90 minutes against Udinese in the last league match, the Portuguese forward was brought back into the starting lineup on Tuesday night against Club Brugge in the Champions League, but his game lasted only an hour.
Paulo Fonseca decided to substitute him with Noah Okafor just a few minutes after Leao received a yellow card for time-wasting. The introduction of the Swiss player—along with Chukwueze replacing Loftus-Cheek—immediately led to Reijnders' 2-1 goal. This was another confirmation of the poor form of the Rossoneri's number 10.
Leao was mostly involved in the first half with a couple of his typical bursts down the left wing, in tandem with Theo Hernandez, followed by a few flashes at the start of the second half. However, the Rossoneri coach, unsatisfied with the entire team's performance, despite being level at 1-1 with a man advantage, decided to make a statement, and once again, it was the 1999-born player who paid the price.
AC Milan's Rafael Leao left the pitch clearly not satisfied.
Returning to the bench, he sat quietly next to his teammates, not speaking to anyone. At the end of the game, Leao went straight to the locker room, skipping the usual salute to the Curva.
He later posted this message on Instagram:
"God knows how my heart is pure."
Having scored just one goal this season, against Lazio in the 2-2 draw on August 30 in Serie A, Rafael Leao has yet to unlock his potential in the Champions League.
His performance remains disappointing over the last 20 matches in the competition, with only one goal, scored last season against Paris Saint-Germain in Milan's 2-1 victory at San Siro.
These stats reflect the lack of technical and mental growth from a player currently going through his most challenging period since joining the Rossoneri in the summer of 2019.
Source: Calciomercato.com
