AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has decided to switch to a three-man defence and he chose to start Rafael Leao on the bench on Sunday, but he could find a place for him starting on Friday.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the latest idea in Pioli’s constantly evolving tactical chessboard is to slightly tweak the 3-5-2 formation to a 3-4-1-2 and put Rafael Leao next to Olivier Giroud, a role that is not new to him.
Milan fans are now used to Leao’s dazzling runs from the left wing but he has actually played as a striker 40 times at Milan: 21 in the 2019-20 season, 19 in the following one. The stats? Eight goals, three assists and a lot of skepticism about whether he can play the role.
In the past two seasons, he has played 69 times on the wing, with 23 goals and 21 assists, earning the title of being the Serie A MVP last season and essentially fired the Rossoneri to their first league title win in 11 years.
In France, with Lille, Leao played as a No.9 on 19 occasions across Ligue 1 and the French Cup, more often than not from the first minute. He scored seven goals and added two assists. Going back to his time at Sporting CP, he played a couple of games as a centre-forward, scoring two goals in the 2017-18 season.
