Rafael Leão is arguably Portugal’s most in-form player at present, with the AC Milan striker again showing his exceptional ability this weekend in Serie A.
Milan, who look set to finish as runners-up in Italy, played out an entertaining six-goal thriller at Sassuolo which ended in a 3-3 draw. Leão’s first-half goal to reduce an early 2-0 deficit was the pick of the bunch, putting him on 8 goals from his last 12 appearances for club and country.
The Rossoneri, who were surprisingly beaten 1-0 at San Siro by Roma in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final in midweek, made a slow start in Emilia-Romagna against Sassuolo. 2-0 down inside the first ten minutes, Milan were thankful for a piece of brilliance from Leão, who sidestepped two Sassuolo defenders before finding the bottom corner on 20 minutes.
Leão created another goal in the second half, with his outside-of-the-boot cross eventually converted by Luka Jovic, as the sides shared the spoils at Città del Tricolore. The dropped points do not hurt seriously hurt Milan, who remain six points ahead of Juventus in 2nd place and fourteen points adrift of imminent champions Inter.
STOP THAT @RafaeLeao7 🤤#SassuoloMilan pic.twitter.com/fbIP6V5Mpe
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) April 15, 2024
For Leão and his teammates, attention now turns to Thursday’s second leg against Roma at Stadio Olimpico. Milan travel to the capital with a 1-0 deficit from the home match, hoping for a repeat of September’s 2-1 win in the Serie A meeting, during which Leão was a goalscorer.
By @SeanGillen9
