One of the most talked about narratives in AC Milan’s 2025-26 season has been the use of Rafael Leao as a striker in a front two.
Ever since the early part of preseason, it became apparently that Massimiliano Allegri not only wanted to use a 3-5-2 system, but that he saw Leao as the spearhead for it. He foresaw a deadly pairing in transition with Christian Pulisic, notwithstanding the arrival of a natural centre-forward.
As of March 18 we are still in the dark as to whether Leao and Pulisic can work together in a front two, but the evidence thus far points towards it not getting the best out of both. A post-Lazio storm has engulfed the Portuguese, but some context to his numbers has arrived.
Opta have provided a comparison between Leao’s present campaign and Olivier Giroud in his most prolific Serie A season at Milan, which was in 2023-24 when he scored 15 goals in the league for the Rossoneri.
So far in 2025-26, Leao (who is on nine goals, with nine games to go) has more touches in the opposition box (4.5 vs 3.7), more lay-offs (2.2 vs 1.3) and more recoveries (1.4 vs 0.9). Interestingly, they have the exact same number for shots per game (2.2) and goals per game (0.4).
Want bonus content including exclusive information, deep-dive analysis pieces, podcasts and news round-ups? Subscribe to our Substack and try a week for free.
Giroud was gg from 2020 to now i would say the Best milan striker in that period
He is sh*t no. 9. His whole career he had 2 really good seasons. If you can’t score 25 goals in all competitions every season you aren’t good. The numbers up there confirm it. Leao is better than him in all stats, and he is a bad no. 9. So Giroud is sh*t.
😀 😀 😀 😀
The only thing that is sh*t is you and your comments.
Yes, anyone can be better than Giroud. Average player.
But Leao has double layofs, 50% more recoveries, more touches and same amount of shots and goals per game. So he is trying harder,defending more and scoring the same. He is literally better than him in a role that Giroud played his entire life. 🤣🤣🤣
Wow haha this is actually insane. I guess Giroud just never really came across as if he didn’t give a damn. That’s what triggers most people in Leao.
Yes, and he was an average player that some people wrote about like he is Haaland. Leao is not a great striker, but still better than Giroud.
man, I miss hauge…
man, I miss the time this village idiot Max wasn’t here.
Giroud was 47 when he came to Milan. Way past his prime but still making a difference.
Giroud could occupy and boss people in the box. He provided that presence in the box which is now lacking. How many headers for goals have we seen from Leão and Pulisic (lol- I think he has one for his entire career). The year the French team won the WC they were having trouble offensively until they put Giroud in the #9 spot. Did Giroud have great stats- no, but he freed up Mbappe and the team became more dangerous.
His problem is the attitude. Stop spitting out stats and figures. ATTITUDE.
Yep, stats don’t matter in football.
Points don’t win titles, having the exact kind of personality a few fans demand does.
🤣🤣🤣 yeah, don’t show stats, just write about Moshis feelings. 😭😭😭 He feels bad about Leao.
Giroud was 37 going on 38 in his last season at Milan. He finished the season with 15 goals and 8 assists.
They took his best Milan season. Compare his worse to Leao that is “doing bad”.
Giroud was almost 38 years old. He is being compared to a player who is supposed to be in his prime. That is sad, not just doing bad.
Giroud played for Milan for 3 years and each year he was getting better.
Each of the last 3 years Leao has been getting worse even though as I said he is supposed to be in his prime years.
Leao time at Milan should come to an end at the end of this season.
I think you should write less of your subjective opinion and focus more on stats and reality. It is pretty clear who is more useful in every single part.of the game except header goals. That is it. Giroud is trash. Not that hard to be better than him.
It’s almost as if Leao is actually trying his best in a role he’s not cut out for.
But he doesn’t run back and try hard as Giroud did. 😭😭😭 You can see from the numbers how much more Giroud did.
Don’t forget how bad his attitude is. Did you know he’s OFFICIALLY the only player ever to fairly moderately vent his frustration about his current struggles 😂
Did the village idiot say “numbers”?
Here are numbers from an article translated by Google Translate:
“The team’s stats confirm a reality that’s now fairly clear: with Leao on the pitch, Milan becomes a more open, more unbalanced team, more difficult to control for better or worse.
The Rossoneri produce fewer xG (1.70 when he plays, 2.16 when he’s not) without managing to compensate in defense, where the xGA (1.32 when he’s on the pitch, 0.45 when he’s not) and shots conceded figures have increased significantly. “