'He has genius' - Allegri backs Leao to keep improving
AC Milan failed to find a breakthrough in their 0-0 draw with Juventus, but Rafael Leao had two big chances to snatch a win.
Massimiliano Allegri believes that Rafael Leao "has genius" and expects him to keep improving as he adapts to his new role, despite failing to score against Juventus.
AC Milan were held to a 0-0 draw by Juve in Serie A on Sunday, with Christian Pulisic missing a first-half penalty for the visitors.
Milan finished the match with 1.7 expected goals (xG) to Juventus' 1.1, and edged the shot count 13 to 12, but they could not find a breakthrough.
Leao came off the bench in the 63rd minute and had the joint-most shots (three), with two of those classed as 'big' chances, while contributing the second-most xG (0.4, behind Pulisic's 0.8).
The Portugal international, who made his 200th appearance in Serie A, was brought on as a striker instead of a winger, and Allegri has backed him to make big improvements.
"He's been out for 45 days, so he's still finding rhythm," Allegri said of Leao.
"Last week, he came on out of necessity and did well. He's worked hard this week – we need him back quickly. He and Nkunku are technical players who can solve matches.
"He played as a striker at Lille, so it's not new to him. His movement on [Luka] Modric's pass was perfect, but a player like him, with two chances like that, must score.
"We played a balanced first half – they closed spaces well, and we moved the ball too slowly.
"In the second half, we grew physically, created chances, but when we had Juventus in our hands, we needed more ruthlessness. The positive is that we didn't concede, but at certain moments, you have to kill the game."
Milan have now failed to score five of their last seven penalties in the league.
Indeed, since the start of 2024, they have missed seven of the 13 spot-kicks awarded to them in Serie A (54%), the most of any team across the top five European leagues.
"I didn't even see how Pulisic took the penalty… penalties get missed," Allegri added of Pulisic's miss.
"Pulisic has always been the penalty kick taker. You don't change it for a mistake, but we need to understand who can be the penalty taker when Pulisic is not on the pitch."
