Milan CEO plays down Leao, Theo Hernandez, Fonseca incident: ‘non-event’ | OneFootball

Milan CEO Giorgio Furlani has insisted that the on-field fiasco between Rafael Leao, Theo Hernandez and coach Paulo Fonseca over the weekend was a ‘non-event’ and that the scrutiny that followed came as a surprise to everyone involved.

In a big call, Leao and Hernandez were left out of Fonseca’s starting line-up for Milan’s 2-2 draw against Lazio on Saturday. Both players emerged as second half-substitutes and were directly involved in providing the equaliser almost immediately afterwards.

Then, when the referee called for a cooling-break and as every other player congregated on the touchline for a tactical debrief, Leao and Hernandez stood on the other side of the pitch waiting for the game to restart, in what many felt was a show of defiance.

Furlani: ‘Too much talk’ about Milan incident

Though Zlatan Ibrahimovic had to step in and speak to the players in question, the club’s stance, confirmed by Furlani, is that there was nothing major worth writing home about.

“You’re there during the game with a lot of adrenaline, there was a lot of talk about it, too much talk about it,” Furlani said during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

“Both us and the players were surprised about that. Fonseca commented on the incident, so did Theo, speaking on behalf of Leao as well. This is truly a non-event.”