Rafael Leao celebrates playing his first game as Milan captain against Hellas Verona, while Stefano Pioli explains he based his decision on the player’s attitude.
Leao was given the captain’s armband against Hellas Verona on Saturday, with both Davide Calabria and Theo Hernandez out of action due to injuries.
Leao played a key role in the Rossoneri’s win, scoring the winner early in the first half.
“A special day for me, having represented this club as the captain. A great game from everyone, we continue together,” wrote Leao on Instagram and X after the game.
The Portuguese forward had been criticised in the aftermath of Milan-Newcastle on Tuesday as he had missed a goal trying to score with a backheel shot.
Pioli explained his decision to promote Leao to Milan’s captain during a post-match press conference.
“We all wanted him as captain and based our decision on the attitude,” he said, as quoted by Milannews.
“We are united to overtake challenging moments. It’s normal to be criticised and be under pressure and he is doing well. The hug he gave me was for the whole team and his teammates.”
The Rossoneri have now climbed to second place in the Serie A table, level on points with city rivals Inter, who have a game in hand.
Milan will face Claudio Ranieri’s Cagliari away in the next Serie A match on Wednesday night.
I’m definetly a Milan fan, but unfortunaly he lacks in atittude and involvement in the defensive part and is kinda superficial. More suitable for the captain armband should be Florenzi, for this match! Did you see how he encouraged Bartaseghi?