Portugal coach Roberto Martinez praised Rafael Leao’s performance in the UEFA Nations League final victory against Spain.
Martinez chose to leave Leao on the bench from minute one but he was thrown on for the last 15 minutes with the game very finely poised. The winger immediately began to cause Spain some problems with his bursts of speed in what was a cameo that drew praise.
The noise about interest from Bayern Munich will not go away, and it is displays on the international stage which will further convince any interested side to intensify interest.
Leao also had 25 goal contributions across all competitions for Milan in 2024-25, but once again alternated good games with bad games and is yet to really take that leap in consistency.
Praise from the coach
Martinez spoke to reporters at his post-match press conference following the dramatic win and he was asked about Leao’s performance, with his comments relayed by MilanPress.
“We saw the best of Rafael Leão last November. This season has been difficult, but today when he had space he had a full-back pinned. I think it was very difficult to manage Rafael Leão. He was key in extra time, then the team believed that the penalties would be ours.”
He’s ability is never in doubt.
I love Leao so much and despite his shortcomings (inconsistency, nonchalant, maybe lazy) he’s the only one I would forgive and take one last gamble to carry on with him.
But if he wants to leave, there’s no point keeping him.
Karim Adeyemi or Ademola Lookman would be capable replacements.
Man that is 100% made up. That he asked to leave. Trust me.