The international break can often be a nuisance for head coaches as they anxiously await injury news, but Paulo Fonseca might have reasons to smile.
La Gazzetta dello Sport write how Milan are approaching the match against Juventus with confidence. Not so much after the draw against Cagliari, but because of the response given last night in the national team by Rafael Leao and Alvaro Morata.
The Portuguese was the protagonist of Portugal’s 5-1 victory against Poland in the Nations League, opening the scoring in the 59th minute with a solo run that began from his own area and ended with a header on an assist from Nuno Mendes.
Morata, on the other hand, gave full confirmation that he is fine after the head injury he suffered in training against Strahinja Pavlovic before the match against Cagliari, replacing Dani Olmo in the 70th minute in Spain’s victory against Denmark.
After his brace in Cagliari, Leao kept up his good form by showing his game-breaking ability for his country. This is what the Milan fans are also asking of him on Saturday 23 November at San Siro against Juventus, a non-decisive but certainly indicative crossroads in the Scudetto hopes.
Fonseca will have been happy to see him like this, and against the Bianconeri – after three consecutive games in Serie A started on the bench against Udinese, Napoli and Monza – he is ready to use him again from the first minute.
Rafa is going through a special moment: he became a father a to twins recently, he returned to scoring with Milan after more than two months and with Portugal after eight. Confidence is his fuel, and that is only good for the Rossoneri.
The quarrel between Fonseca and De la Fuente over the possible use of a player recovering from a head injury literally ended yesterday evening when the striker entered the field with the game already over in the 70th minute, replacing Dani Olmo.
The head injury has passed and Morata’s history teaches that he is a player who scores important goals, against former clubs too. He could start for Spain tomorrow night against Switzerland to get some more match fitness back.
Why are we still talking about scudetto hopes?