6 days ago
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Going into the season, there were some doubts about whether Massimiliano Allegri could get the best out of Rafael Leao, and answers have begun to arrive.
As Tuttosport write, Allegri’s work with Leao seems to be doing the trick, as the two goals against Fiorentina on October 19th and the one against Pisa on Friday show. Atalanta will be the proof, as the forward hopes to score in three consecutive league games for the first time since April 2024.
The two struck a rapport early on. First, they got closer during summer preparations, then they developed a mutual respect for their roles, with Allegri immediately making Leao responsible and the Portuguese accommodating the coach’s requests.
Then came the constant and insistent use as a striker during friendlies, with encouraging responses. The goal in the Coppa Italia match against Bari in mid-August seemed to be a launching point, until an injury kept him out for over a month.
Scudetto numbers?
Stefano Pioli transformed the young Rafa from a highly talented prospect to the Serie A MVP in a title-winning season, playing as a left winger. Now, Allegri has the task of elevating the former Lille man into a striker fit for the big stage. This means he will have to score more goals than he has so far.
Leao’s best tally was 16 goal in the 2022-23 season, with 15 coming in the league. Only twice has the Portuguese scored more than 10 goals in the league, and he hasn’t managed that in the last two seasons: nine in 2023-24 and eight in 2024-25.
This is too few for someone of his quality in Allegri’s eyes, who is accustomed to having strikers who score 20 goals per season. The team that wins the Scudetto, for the past decade or so, has always had a striker who scores around 20 goals.
Only on two occasions have the Italian champions not had a decisive contribution from their centre-forwards: Pioli’s Milan in 2021-22 (11 goals for Giroud, while Immobile won the Capocannoniere with 27 goals) and Conte’s Napoli in 2024-25 (14 goals for Lukaku, 25 for Atalanta’s Retegui).
Allegri likes goal scorers, like he had at Juventus with Tevez (20 goals in 2014-15), Dybala (19 in 2015-16 and 22 in 2017-18), Higuain (24 in 2016-17) and Cristiano Ronaldo (21 in 2018-19). In his pre-match presser, he revealed a belief that Leao can join that list.
“Leao can score 15-20 goals in the league, his fitness is improving, and he’s also becoming more confident in his abilities as a striker. A striker must live for goals, while Rafa must improve inside the box, because he had big chances and didn’t capitalise on them; he needs to be more clinical there.
“He’s very good from outside the box, but he needs to improve a lot inside. However, he can still improve his fitness, like the whole team.”
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