Rafael Leao has gone a while without scoring in the league and he will be hoping that tonight’s game against Bologna is the one where he will finally break his drought.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes, Leao was the one who scored while smiling, now he continues to smile but we are not talking about his goals. Instead, he smiles because his Milan are doing well, winning and having a lot of fun.
Milan have scored three goals in each of their last three league games and tonight against Bologna the Rossoneri will look for their fifth victory in a row, which has not happened this season in the league nor did it happen in 2022-23.
Rafa smiles because it is his friends who score, from Chaka Traoré to Noah Okafor, and after those goals he was the first to intercept their celebrations with a big hug that shows how much he cares about the collective cause.
Leao knows very well that his standards are different and that three goals in 18 games are not enough. At Milanello they say that lately he has been among the first to arrive and ask for extra training.
You happen to see him practicing some specific aspects of his way of looking for the goal, as Stefano Pioli said: “He asks to try shooting above all. Because he likes it, but also because he wants and must improve.”
In the meantime, however, the Portuguese winger is changing the way he plays. As Opta points out, he has 4.56 expected assists and is the player who creates the most in Serie A, but comparing his performances from August to December with that of this month brings more interesting points.
Two data points are striking: today Leao creates more scoring opportunities, with 2.6 per 90 against 1.8 in the first half of the season.
Look at Milan’s first and second goals against Udinese: Rafa sets up Theo Hernandez twice, who squared for Ruben Loftus-Cheek (goal) and Olivier Giroud (crossbar from which Luka Jovic’s goal comes).
Leao is the man of the penultimate pass, and the play that led to the 2-2 draw in Udine blossomed about 40 metres from the goal. He has begun to move away from his comfort zone, also changing compared to his ‘deviations’ from the past.
A year ago, when Pioli remodelled Milan with a three-man defence to regain solidity and overcome the crisis, he moved Leao closer to goal and the experiment was not a success.
This season the Portuguese’s movements seem to be going in the opposite direction: Leao moves away from the area and seeks inspiration elsewhere.
For the fans at San Siro tonight it would be enough to find the same Leao as always: playing with a smile on his face and the knowledge that he can create something from nothing.