Rafael Leao’s performance against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night was a reminder to the watching world what he is capable of doing even on the biggest nights.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write how when Leao was suspended in the air with his feet two metres off the ground going for the overhead kick that made it 1-1, Leao thought about those who criticised him and from that upside down position he turned everything around.
From being a player in question, he returned to being Milan’s symbolic man; from being a forward who doesn’t score, he was promoted to man of the match in a Champions League game where he shared the stage with Kylian Mbappe.
The key to understanding Tuesday’s Rafa Leao is redemption. Not by chance, it is a concept similar to the one chosen by Stefano Pioli in his pre-match press conference the day before. Pioli drew from the deck and named the key word: “Retaliation.”
Leao has never heard criticism like he has in recent weeks. Some fans – not all – questioned his abilities while Arrigo Sacchi even said that he wouldn’t play him if he were the head coach.
After the match, Rafa published the usual sequence of Instagram Stories, which are generally proportional to his level of performance, i.e. the better he plays, the more the stories multiply.
However, the most significant message was written under a post by Olivier Giroud: “We answer on the pitch”. Oli sent him almost the same message: “Come on little brother, look how we got back up.”
There is another protagonist in Leao’s last week and it is his father Antonio. He is not a football man and in Rafa’s life he has a particular role because the relationship between the two is strong, maybe he experiences ups and downs but it is never banal.
Antonio arrived in Milan, followed the match closely and in the end had his quarter of an hour of fame. Rafa put the Man of the Match award in his hand and Antonio smiled. Then he looked at the camera and smiled: “Milan, always Milan.”
The harmony between father and son is good news for Milan. Antonio once gave an interview to Record, a Portuguese newspaper, in which he made it known what his role is in Rafa’s life: “Rafael’s psychologist is called Antonio Leao. I advise him, I talk to him, I help him to stay where he is.”
The point is that these days Antonio is also a bit of an agent. Leao is linked to Ted Dimvula, a French lawyer, with a power of attorney expiring in February, and he must decide whether to renew.
Leao against PSG simply played the best match of his life. Better than Napoli-Milan? Yes. Better than the September 2022 derby? Yes. Better than the big Scudetto games? Yes. This is why he was so happy at the end of the game.
In the 90 minutes Rafa had never been so consistent, so involved and applied defensively, so determined in winning one duel after another. An alien connected to San Siro from space, asked who the best player in the world was, would have answered without thinking: “The red 10.” Not the white 7.