GdS: The reason behind Leao being benched by Pioli against Inter | OneFootball

The major surprise of the pre-match ahead of Inter vs AC Milan on Sunday night was that Stefanbo Pioli chose to leave Rafael Leao on the bench. This was primarily due to fitness, a report claims.

As has been reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, the main reason behind Leao being left on the bench against the Nerazzurri was because there are concerns over his general fitness.

Being Milan’s primary attacker, Leao has been playing a lot of football in recent seasons with little chance for a rest. It was said on the day of the game that he has been running on empty, and clearly Pioli felt it would be more detrimental in the long term to play him against Inter.

He was perhaps vindicated in that decision as when the Portuguese forward was introduced, he made very little impact. He did play a pass to Olivier Giroud which could have resulted in a goal but the Frenchman lost the ball.