CM: Balance and a ‘new’ role – the plan to re-integrate Leao into Allegri’s 3-5-2

AC Milan have been on a great run without having Rafael Leao available, leading to question marks about his return.

As Calciomercato.com write, Milan have ‘shown they can do without Leao’, but they don’t want to do without him. The Portuguese forward returned to the sidelines on Sunday evening against Napoli after a 40-day absence following an injury sustained in the Coppa Italia match against Bari.

Having come on in the 69th minute for Santiago Gimenez, Leao, clearly was lacking fitness after his long absence and he struggled to lead the attack while the Rossoneri were a man down, especially as a pure centre-forward with little support.

His future under Allegri remains as a striker, even if his return to the starting lineup in Sunday evening’s match at the Allianz Stadium in Turin against Juventus is not certain.

A question of balance

Balance is the key concept behind Allegri and his men’s recent excellent results: they’ve conceded just one goal in their last four games, a penalty from Kevin de Bruyne, and their defence appears to have been honed with years of work.

Fikayo Tomori reiterated this loudly after the victory against Napoli: “We defenders are no longer asked to roam the pitch, leaving gaps that are difficult to fill.” This change in strategy inevitably also affects the attack, because defending starts from the front.

Photos by AC Milan + Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Allegri has now established a well-blended 3-5-2, in which Youssouf Fofana and Adrien Rabiot do the running, Luka Modric conducts the orchestra and Christian Pulisic is free to roam, thanks also to the dirty work of Santi Gimenez.

Leao will be called up to the Portugal squad for the next international break, and will have time to regain his fitness after the Juve game. When back to 100% his starting spot isn’t in doubt, but he’ll certainly have to put in a lot of work to keep it.

The coach reiterated this on the eve of the game: “There are four up front: Gimenez, Pulisic, Leao, and Nkunku. Whoever deserves to, will play.” So, there’s no one untouchable, not even the No.10, who Allegri plans to use alongside Pulisic.

Leao, who scored 10 goals and provided right assists last season, will never be a problem for Milan. His impact has often been evident even when he came off the bench, and he must be careful to regain his fitness after a serious injury.

Therefore, his contribution against the Bianconeri could come as a substitute again, both to test his playing time and because the team that won against Napoli provided plenty of guarantees, allowing him to leverage his speed and technical ability to create opportunities when spaces open up.