Milan coach Paulo Fonseca believes his side ‘improved’ and showed their best version against Club Brugge after Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze came on in the second half, but he insisted his choice to bring in the former to replace Rafa Leao was ‘no punishment’ towards the Portuguese star.
The Rossoneri got the first win of their Champions League campaign by defeating 10-man Belgian outfit 3-1 in a match that saw the hosts start ‘without intensity’, which is why he opted to make significant tweaks early in the second half, relying on players that ‘brought energy’ and ‘changed’ the game.
Fonseca: Okafor and Chukwueze brought ‘energy’ to Milan, Leao must ‘understand’
“We played a game without intensity, it was too slow,” Fonseca told Sky Sport Italia in a post-match interview, as reported by Tuttomercatoweb.
“We didn’t do well against a team that defended deep. When Okafor and Chukwueze came on, the game changed and they brought some energy. We did good things after our second goal.
“After that moment our pressure was higher, but we need to be a more aggressive team.”
It was almost symbolic to see Rafael Leao, who has drawn much criticism recently, slowly walk onto the sideline after being replaced by Okafor at the same moment when the Swiss forward assisted Reijnders’ first goal of the night.
According to Fonseca, there’s no ‘specific problem’ with the Rossoneri number 10, as he insisted he was replaced because he ‘needed’ other players.
“There’s no specific problem with Rafa, no punishment,” the coach claimed.
“I deeded Okafor and Chukwueze, Rafa has to understand it and work for the team like all the players.
“We improved when they came on, but also when Pulisic started to play more inside rather than on the wing. He’s not as influential there as when he plays inside. At that point, the team was great.”
In the second half, 16-year-old Francesco Camarda also came on to become the youngest Italian player to debut in the Champions League, and went one step away from turning a dream into reality, as he scored minutes later only to see his goal ruled out due to offside.
Fonseca said that he “would’ve deserved this moment”.
“It would’ve been a very nice moment, from a young player that deserves to be in this group and that worked a lot to stay here.
“He’ll score a lot in the future, it’s just the start.”