Why is Rafa Leao always on the bench?
His performance stats give pause for thought, especially when compared to those preferred over him: Joao Felix. Since Conceiçao took charge, the number 10 has been benched on six occasions—against Inter in the Supercoppa Italiana, Roma in the Coppa Italia, and then against Empoli, Verona, Lecce, and Napoli in Serie A. And almost every time, his impact as a substitute has been significant.
Excluding the match against Roma, which was already well under control, the Portuguese forward always came on in difficult moments, consistently pulling a rabbit out of the hat. Except in the last match at the "Maradona," where the difficulty level was simply too high.
Breakdown:
January 6: The Supercoppa Italiana match. Leao’s benching was not a technical choice but due to his condition—he was struggling physically and had even missed the semifinal against Juventus. A precautionary decision. Then the match took a bad turn, and he was subbed in at the 50th minute, completely changing the game. He won the free kick that Theo Hernandez converted and provided the decisive assist for Abraham.
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February 5: Coppa Italia quarterfinals. Conceiçao preferred Jimenez over him. Leao wasn’t at his best after a series of closely scheduled matches. Against Parma ten days earlier, he was subbed off at halftime; against Dinamo, he played terribly; against Inter, he barely scraped a passing grade. He was given a breather against Roma, playing 20 solid minutes.
February 8: Milan played at Empoli. Leao wasn’t in peak condition due to an ankle issue, and Conceiçao decided to manage his minutes, also keeping the Champions League in mind. Things on the pitch went south, so he was brought on at the start of the second half—and he broke the deadlock.
February 15: Milan played Verona in between their two Champions League fixtures. Conceiçao tried to manage squad rotation and sacrificed his compatriot for this league match. But the Sottil experiment failed. Leao came on at halftime and provided the assist for Gimenez.
March 8: Milan played Lecce. Things had gone from bad to worse—Milan had lost three matches in a row. Conceiçao tried to shake things up, and the Portuguese player's exclusion was a purely technical choice. Once again, the match turned ugly, so he was brought on at halftime. He energized the team and eventually assisted the decisive 2-3 goal for Pulisic.
March 31: Milan played Napoli. All the teams ahead of Milan had won. Conceiçao preferred Joao Felix, shifting him to the left, where he delivered yet another dreadful performance. Leao was subbed in at the start of the second half, but Napoli were already 2-0 up and far superior to previous opponents. He did what he could, shook up the team, and created plenty of scoring chances. If Milan lost by a narrow margin and forced Napoli to work for it, much of the credit goes to him.
The Verdict
In reality, only the last two exclusions were purely technical decisions—and even those are hard to justify. In terms of average match ratings, only Pulisic and Reijnders have performed better. But in terms of raw numbers, Leao leads in assists, successful dribbles, big chances created, and shots on target per game. Even in a disastrous season like this, he has hit double digits in goals and is closing in on that mark for assists. The stats speak for themselves, as do those of his replacements (Jimenez, Joao Felix). Milan cannot afford to do without their number 10, as relayed via Milannews.it.
