After the win against Newcastle, Rafael Leao spoke to the media and shared his thoughts on the Champions League exit. He stated that it wasn’t the outcome they wanted, but that full focus will be on the Europa League now
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Leao made his return in tonight’s game after recovering from an injury. It perhaps showed that it was his first game since coming back, struggling to find his groove especially in the first half. In our player ratings, he was handed a 5.5/10 after a big miss in the second half as well.
Speaking to Prime Video after the game, as cited by MilanNews, Leao shared his thoughts on the game and the future of Milan in the Europa League. He assured the fans that their focus now is to win the competition.
In the end, you did your job and you celebrated at the end…
“We wanted to continue in the Champions League, we knew that without victory we couldn’t think of moving forward. We celebrated for the three points.”
On the Europa League…
“Now we continue in the Europa League, Milan have never won it. Now we enter this competition to try to win it.”
What game was your game like?
“Difficult, difficult. These moments of responsibility help me grow. In the first half a little so-so, the team helped me raise the level in the second half.”
What did you think about the shot hitting the post?
“Disappointed, it was important for me to return with a goal. The most important thing was to continue in the Champions League, unfortunately we weren’t able to reach that goal. But we continue in Europe and that’s fine.”
Milan will face Monza next in the league and need to claim a win, following the disappointing defeat against Atalanta last time out. The game is scheduled for Sunday and it’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s first league game since re-joining the club as a director.
