Allegri discusses Leao and Pulisic’s positions, rotation and goals from other sources

AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri believes both Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic can occupy the striker position, and insisted the midfielders must start scoring.

Milan host Genoa at San Siro for their first home game of 2026, and there is pressure on to win again. Inter, Juventus and Roma all won earlier in the round so there is a need to keep up with the top sides, while Napoli dropped points so there could be ground gained over them.

Allegri has made three changes to the starting line-up from the team that beat Cagliari on January 2, when there was a bit of a selection crisis right up until kick-off.

Matteo Gabbia has recovered fully from a knee issue and gets his spot back, Strahinja Pavlovic is to his left so Davide Bartesaghi returns to wing-back, while Christian Pulisic is in to partner Rafael Leao.

Allegri spoke to DAZN just before kick-off at the Meazza, and his comments were relayed by MilanNews.

Leao and Pulisicare  finally together from the start. What did you ask them?

“They’re quite capable of finding the centre-forward position in rotation. The important thing is that they don’t provide any reference points, [and that they] they take advantage of the characteristics they have and can do much better.”

No rotation today, what will load management be like during this period?

“I don’t know, the most important game is tonight. After tonight, we’ll see who can play in Florence. We’ve recovered almost all the players, we hope to get Nkunku back too, otherwise it’ll be the next one in Como. The others are more or less all fine. When you start doing the math, things start to come out wrong.”

Are the midfielders still not scoring enough goals?

“I always say that at the end of the year, the numbers balance out. Leao and Pulisic are scoring, Nkunku has started scoring, Fullkrug will too, the midfielders will start scoring, as will the defenders from dead-ball situations.

“We have to stay in the game. If we slack off, we pay dearly, just look at the 10 goals we’ve conceded in five games against Pisa, Parma, Sassuolo, Torino, and Cremonese.”