Leao hits back at criticism and praises ‘important’ Ibrahimovic: “Sometimes people talk” | OneFootball

Rafael Leao spoke to the media ahead of AC Milan’s decisive clash against Feyenoord this evening. The winger will no doubt play an important role, after the 1-0 defeat in the first leg, and he seems eager to prove the doubters wrong.

Sergio Conceicao has opted to go with the fantastic four up front for Milan tonight, starting Leao, Christian Pulisic, Joao Felix and Santiago Gimenez. With a one-goal deficit to overturn, the Rossoneri aren’t messing about.

After the game between Milan and Hellas Verona, which Leao helped decide, Zlatan Ibrahimovic praised the winger for being a decisive player for the Rossoneri. This is something the Portuguese international was asked about in his interview with Sky a few minutes ago (via MilanNews).

Did Ibrahimovic’s words energise you?

“Ibra has always been like this [energising us], when things are going well he tells me the things that aren’t going well, just as he does it even when things aren’t going well. He’s a very important person for me and I think for everyone else too, he’s given me a lot up to now.

“They are beautiful words to hear, he understands how things are on the pitch. Sometimes people talk a lot but they have never played football. But that’s not important, the important thing is to have people who can help you and win,” he stated.

On the game…

“We are all focused, it is a very important match. We are lucky to play it at home, in front of our fans and we hope they will motivate us until the end. We all know the importance of the match and everyone knows that they have to give their all.”

What do Milan need?

“We have to be cool in front of goal. And from the opportunities we create we have to score 2-3 goals. In the first leg, we created more than them and yet they hit us at the first opportunity.”

It remains to be seen if Leao will have a better game tonight as he arguably didn’t do too well in the first leg. Underneath the San Siro floodlights, however, we might see something different from the No.10…