Rafael Leao takes Milan pressure off coach Fonseca | OneFootball

Rafael Leao takes responsibility off coach Paulo Fonseca after Milan’s disappointing 0-0 draw with Genoa. ‘He has good ideas, but we make the decisions when trying to find the spaces.’

The Rossoneri were jeered off the field at the final whistle by a crowd who had cheered earlier in the evening for the parade of legends celebrating the 125th anniversary of the club’s foundation.

They were unable to break down mid-table Genoa, with Alvaro Morata hitting the crossbar in the best chance of the game, meaning they have just one point from the last two Serie A matches.

“It takes time, we are starting to understand what the coach wants, but at times there are things we can change on the field too, like our determination in front of goal and our decisions when trying to find the spaces. That is down to the players,” Leao told DAZN.

“The coach has good ideas, he wants to press high and I personally feel the difference, because when we press, we get the ball back in the final third and can pin the opposition into their own area.

“We had a good spell of form, today we drew and it cannot be treated like the end of the world. We’ve got to stick together and work, because we were so close to a victory, it was just the difference between the ball hitting the crossbar and going in. This is football.”

Leao stands up for Milan boss Fonseca

MILAN, ITALY – DECEMBER 15: Paulo Fonseca, Head Coach of AC Milan, reacts during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Genoa at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on December 15, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Milan are now 14 points adrift of leaders Atalanta, albeit with a game in hand, and have slipped below Bologna in the standings with the same number of matches played.

“The coach told us before the game that it was an important match for our table. We need to understand that every game is like a final. I don’t think we lacked effort today, we gave our all, but if we had played another 30 minutes I don’t think Genoa were going to score,” added Leao.

“We cannot keep dropping points, as in the end it becomes difficult.”

There were numerous injuries ruling out Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christian Pulisic, Musah, Ismael Bennacer, Luka Jovic, Kevin Zeroli and Alessandro Florenzi, while Tammy Abraham went off at half-time with a knock.

They started teenagers Mattia Liberali and Alex Jimenez, the left-back putting in a strong performance in place of dropped Theo Hernandez.

With that in mind, Leao wore the captain’s armband this evening.