GdS: ‘Wings of quality’ – why Leao and Pulisic are Milan’s main threats in the final

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·12 de maio de 2025

GdS: ‘Wings of quality’ – why Leao and Pulisic are Milan’s main threats in the final

AC Milan head coach Sergio Conceicao will rely on the three-man defence again versus Bologna in the Coppa Italia final, and his two wingers.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write, to fly beyond the difficulties in the league, Milan will propose two real wingers against Bologna. Winning the Coppa Italia would mean booking a place in the Europa League, so it is a potentially season-defining game.

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Rafael Leao will be there from the start, after the suspension he served on Friday night in the Serie A appetiser. Christian Pulisic will be able to take care of the other lane, and both will have the freedom to choose their preferred route to cause danger.

A goal for history

For Leao, being there as a starter seems obvious and instead it is something new: it will be the first final he has played from minute one. In the Supercoppa Italiana, due to a less than optimal condition, he had started on the bench.

Once he came on, he changed the game by completing the comeback with the assist for Tammy Abraham’s winner added on. This time he would like to make his mark, especially after also having been the assist man in the Scudetto-clinching game, setting up Olivier Giroud and Franck Kessie.

Rafa’s season has been inconsistent like that of the team, and perhaps it is no coincidence. However, he was decisive in the Arabian night of the first trophy and arrived in good shape at the end, also rested for the evening that could award Milan the second cup of the season.

Super Pulisic

He is not the only quality winger that the Milan players and Conceiçao are counting on: there is a twin on the other wing in Pulisic who is also looking to be decisive after scoring the winner on Friday.

One fact unites Pulisic and Leao: with 23 goals and 17 assists starting from last season, Christian is the second player in Serie A to have scored more than 15 goals and provided at least as many assists. The other is Leao.

Speaking of big numbers: if you exclude the real forwards (first or second strikers) Pulisic is the first Milan player to score more than 10 goals in each of his first two Serie A seasons with the Rossoneri since the days of Luciano Chiarugi (1972-73 and 1973-74), with 12 goals last season and 11 in this.

Pulisic seems to be even more irreplaceable than Leao, who also played several games on the bench. The last one was against Genoa last Monday before he came on and made a big an impact, demonstrating his excellent physical and mental condition.

Milan on the attack

The new system gives them further impetus: less responsibility for defensive help, greater freedom to target the opponent’s area. From the match against Udinese – when the new system debuted – to today, Pulisic has scored two assists and two goals in six total matches.

Rafa is even better: three assists and two goals in five matches. In the last Coppa Italia won by the No.10 and No.11 for Milan, it was Rui Costa and Rivaldo who occupied those shirt numbers. Only the Brazilian scored in the return match against Roma, when the final was over two legs.

Rui Costa only entered the game in the second half of the second match, without scoring. Another Portuguese, Leao, wants to be there and be decisive. Maybe with a historic goal, to write another page in the history of the club.

What about the future? Rafa has a contract with Milan until 2028 and there are no meetings scheduled with the club for a renewal or to discuss the future. That’s already written: Leao will remain at the centre of the new Milan.