Milan cannot catch a break this season, and their bad luck continued at the Stadio Via del Mare on Saturday afternoon. Less than 15 minutes into their Serie A game against Lece, Stefano Pioli’s men lost their standout performer Rafael Leao to injury.
Just when it looked like Leao was on the brink of rekindling his ‘MVP’ form with a superb performance against Paris Saint-Germain, fatigue took its toll on the star forward. Tommaso Pobega forced a high turnover and played the Milan No10 into space.
It isn’t in Leao’s nature to give up, but he refused to chase the pass, letting Wladimiro Falcone complete a comfortable clearance. However, there was a reason behind the 24-year-old’s decision to call off his pursuit as he apparently felt some muscular pain.
Pioli had no choice but to sub him off. Marquee summer signing Noah Okafor took his place. Despite Leao’s early exit, Milan went 2-0 up before halftime. But it could be a potential hammer blow for Rossoneri if their best player fails to recover during the upcoming international break.
Milan have massively struggled with injuries this season. Coming into this round, Christian Pulisic, Ismael Bennacer, Marco Sporitello, Marco Pellegrino, Pierre Kalulu, and Simon Kjaer were on the sidelines. The last thing Pioli needed was Leao to join this ever-growing injury contingent.
Everything’s still up in the air. Leao will have to undergo further checks to understand the extent of the problem.
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