The Italian journalist Luca Bianchin wrote the following in La Gazzetta dello Sport about Rafa Leao:
“Milan have played 7 league matches without Leao: in six of them he was unavailable, and in one he stayed on the bench. In those seven games, the team scored one goal against Cremonese and Bologna, two against Lecce and Sassuolo, and three against Udinese, Verona, and Bologna. That is a very high average: 2.14 per game. In the 22 matches with Rafa, however, Milan scored 29 goals: an average of 1.32."
Is it worth going into more detail by looking at minutes played?
"With Leao, 23 goals in 1,492 minutes: one goal every 65 minutes. Without Leao, 21 goals in 1,118 minutes: one goal every 53 minutes. Always better without Rafa.
How can all this be explained?
"Leao is not particularly strong when it comes to playing with his teammates, and with him the attack is more unpredictable but also more static. The theory that Santiago Giménez is much less accurate in front of goal but far more useful to the team is debatable, but it has some basis. Recent months also play a big role. Rafa and Christian Pulisic are not in good form and probably don't work especially well together either. In recent days they argued and then made peace, but Milan in 2026, with them as their attacking focal points, are struggling. In the 13 matches played this calendar year, they have scored 17 goals, roughly 1.3 per game. That is too few for a title-contending team.”
