CM: ‘From Pioli to Pioli’ – Leao suffering 17-month home league goal drought

Rafael Leao is expected to start against Fiorentina on Sunday with Christian Pulisic injured, and he has a long drought to end.

As Calciomercato.com report, Leao will get the nod from minute on against La Viola in all likelihood, with Pulisic facing a month out. The Portuguese opened the season with a goal at home against Bari, then suffered a calf injury, before returning not at his best.

A 17-month wait

May 25, 2024, AC Milan vs. Salernitana: this was the date of Leao’s last Serie A goal at San Siro. Almost 17 months have passed, and it was Stefano Pioli’s last game as Milan coach. Exactly a little under a year and a half later, he returns to the stadium as an opponent.

Out goes the best player in Massimiliano Allegri’s squad in terms of goals (six), assists (two) and overall performance, in Pulisic. In comes the man everyone has indicated as the one capable of helping Milan make the definitive leap in quality and allowing them to aspire to win the title again.

Leao came off the bench against Napoli and Juventus, and though he perhaps wasn’t in top psychological and physical condition, the two big chances he missed against the latter did not best please Allegri, nor did his attitude.

Photo by AC Milan

With the Portuguese national team, he got 30 minutes as a substitute against Ireland and then returned early to Milan, which prevented him from taking part in the subsequent match against Hungary.

Given the late returns of Santiago Gimenez and Christopher Nkunku from their respective matches for Mexico and France, Leao’s candidacy for a starting spot against Fiorentina seems a lock. He will face the coach that helped him become Serie A MVP in the 2021-22 Scudetto-winning season.

Allegri’s plan to transform him into a true striker has not gone to plan so far. Yet, the pressure is also on the highest-paid and most important player in the entire squad to help himself a bit too, and going nearly a year and a half without a home goal is not a good record.

With his compatriots Fonseca and Conceiçao, Leao failed to establish the same rapport as under Pioli. He scored three goals at San Siro under the current Lyon coach – two in the Champions League and one in the Coppa Italia – and none under his successor.

Two months have passed since that mid-August evening in which Leao scored against Bari, and he is called upon to reclaim a starting spot. Without Pulisic and Adrien Rabiot – two leaders of the team – Rafa must take the team by the hand. Allegri believes he can do it, but patience has a limit.