AC Milan face Slavia Praha on the night of the San Siro, and Rafael Leao deserves to regain the green light on the left side of the attack, with the chance to show his evolution.
La Gazzetta dello Sport recalls a European evening in 2020 when Leao had blonde curly hair, no braids, no headband to hold it down, dye and the number 17 on the back, with a slimmer body than today.
Four years have passed since the evening in question and the Portuguese has substituted for the better. Now he wears the number 10, has won a Scudetto, plays in a World Cup alongside Ronaldo and is the leader of Milan’s attack. .
On 29 October 2020, Leao scored his first goal in Europe in a Milan shirt against Sparta Prague, in a stadium abandoned due to the pandemic. The opponent will be the senior team of the city where the Rossoneri will play in the round of the 16th of this year: Prague. But instead of Sparta, this time there’s Slavia.
Stefano Pioli’s side reached the organisation stage in 2020-21 after knocking out Shamrock Rovers and Rio Ave in the preliminaries, scoring three goals against Celtic in the opening match of the organisation. Leao is 22 years old and there is still debate as a winger or a striker.
On that spring day, Leao came on in place of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in place of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and moved ahead of Brahim Diaz. On the wings were Samu Castillejo and Rade Krunic, while Ciprian Tatarusanu was in goal.
Milan scored 3 goals, with Leao along with compatriot Diogo Dalot and close friend Brahim Diaz in a 3-0 win. The Rossoneri then saw their European adventure come to an end in the 16-game against Manchester United.
This time, Rafa faces Slavia, a cynical team capable of challenging even Roma, Inter and Sevilla, 3 of the teams he has surprised in recent years.
In 2020, Leao is still a talented boy, now he is Milan’s golden boy. He won the league title as MVP and hopes to lead the Rossoneri to the quarterfinals.
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