Leao in double figures: but it is not the number of goals that Rafa, the new Milan striker, must aim for. It is the number of derbies played: twenty are behind him, and tomorrow will be his twenty-first. Inter is the opponent he has faced most in his career, followed by Roma and Torino with five fewer matches. Rafa, a Milan player since 2019, has the longest tenure at the club: his peer Gabbia, a youth product, has been loaned out and returned a few times. No one has Leao’s experience in the "Milan derby" context, and for this reason, he must be the team’s technical and moral leader. Rafa continues to call himself "young" (in a recent interview he said Allegri "manages us young players well"), but at twenty-six, with 268 Milan appearances, 75 goals, and twenty derbies behind him, he is a fully mature athlete.
Coincidentally, Rafa has not scored against Inter since September 2023: a melancholic goal in a 5-1 defeat. Last season, he instead provided two assists, in the Coppa Italia (to Reijnders) and the Supercoppa Italiana (to Abraham), which were far happier: they helped the team win two matches and lift a trophy. Leao is looking for new goals, but the assist version suits him too: alongside the already proven Thu-La duo, Milan will field the new Pu-Le pair, Pulisic-Leao, starting together in the league for the first time. Their compatibility was tested in Parma and proved successful: Chris and Rafa "match" perfectly. It showed when Leao, with his back to goal, flicked the ball to Pulisic with a heel pass, the resulting shot narrowly missing the opposing goalkeeper, writes La Gazzetta dello Sport.
First test Agility and skill are part of both players’ repertoire: similar but surprisingly complementary, which is why Allegri wanted them together in his ideal Milan lineup. First Rafa’s injury, then Chris’s muscle issue, delayed the new strikerless attack project. Now the pieces are ready to assemble, aiming for a winning structure: Leao free to seek the ball outside the area, enjoy one-on-ones, unleash his speed on counterattacks, and then attempt to finish. So far, more than Rafa, 188 centimeters of talent, it has been the smaller Chris, 178 cm, who has played the role of a physical number 9. Of Leao’s four league goals, two came from distance and two from penalties. Chris’s four-goal contribution came entirely from inside the box. Rafa confirmed directly to CBS, American TV: "On the field I try to help Pulisic and create space for him." Aware of expectations, he added: "If you want to be the right man, you have to make a difference." More than an assist, a striker’s goal in the derby would make that difference: for Milan, for Leao, and for his new career at the center of the attack.
