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AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri believes that Rafael Leao is showing why he is a striker, and he once again refuted any title talk.
Milan ended 2025 with a victory and a clean sheet against Hellas Verona at San Siro on December 28, but they were made to work a lot harder for all three points against Cagliari at the Unipol Domus on Friday night, prevailing 1-0 in the end thanks to Rafael Leao’s second-half strike.
After weathering a first-half storm, the Rossoneri provided the one moment of quality. A lovely through ball found Adrien Rabiot’s dart towards the right byline, and his cut-back went all the way to Leao on the far side, who took a touch and fired a shot into the back of the net via a deflection.
‘The team spirit is good’
Allegri spoke to Sky straight after the final whistle to offer his assessments after another big victory and a satisfactory clean sheet at a stadium Milan conceded three times in last season. MilanNews relayed his comments.
Do you think tonight shows Leao has the make-up of a striker?
“When he’s in the middle, he’s more alive in the game. When he plays on the left, he sometimes falls asleep and drops out of the game. He has the quality and the skills to play as a centre-forward. He still needs to find top form.”
Were Milan much more mature in the second half?
“In the first half we allowed three shots on target in the first couple of minutes, so I was worried, but as time wore on we got into the game.
“We were also slipping and sliding a lot out there, the passes were misplaced, but in the second half Cagliari lost intensity and we stepped up a gear. We had more chances to score a second where we absolutely should’ve done better.”
Strasser scored the winner 15 years ago (the title-winning season) with similar difficulties surrounding that game…
“It’s too early to say anything, there are five teams in three or four points. A win today was very important, so was a clean sheet, as we were coming off a run of games where we conceded repeatedly.
“We must continue working, we know it is very difficult to go all the way, but the team spirit is good and even when there are errors, we play as a unit.”
How did the defence do tonight?
“Everyone is improving. Playing for Milan isn’t easy: De Winter, Bartesaghi, Estupinan, Tomori, who has improved physically, and Gabbia, who has returned. They’re improving especially individually, in defensive situations.
“De Winter and Pavlovic already had a good game against Verona. They’re improving their reading of the box. De Winter took away three important balls inside the box.”
Are you optimistic about your aims?
“Now we’ll play on the 8th, then the 11th, then the 15th, then the 18th, then the 25th, and then the 1st in Bologna. I wasn’t good at Italian, but I was good at math… (laughs). It was important to play on the 2nd, then when they tell us to play, we play.
“We can’t change the schedule anyway: we need to recover and think about Thursday’s draw against Genoa, who are a tough team.”
English (US) ·