Rafael Leao reveals the gift from a child that is bringing him ‘luck’ at Milan and assures his ‘heart and mind’ are with the Rossoneri after deciding the win over Fiorentina.
The Rossoneri consolidated second place and are now six points clear of Juventus in third, as the Bianconeri lost 1-0 to Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico this evening.
Rafael Leao scored the winner after creating the back-heel flick assist for Ruben Loftus-Cheek, while Alfred Duncan had temporarily equalised in a frantic start to the second half at the Stadio Franchi.
“We wanted to win here, because we hadn’t won in Florence for a long time. Fiorentina are a quality team, we could’ve scored I think three goals in the first half already, but we came out for the second half with the right mentality and got the result,” Leao told Sky Sport Italia.
The Portugal international wanted to give a shoutout to teammate Samuel Chukwueze, who struggled to adapt to Serie A, but is starting to make an impact.
“The team is in good shape, when that happens I feel better, we are all feeling more confident. I am very happy for Chuku, who had a great game tonight. He had a delicate moment this season, so I am pleased he had another great performance and I think it is also thanks to him that we won.”
President Paolo Scaroni said this evening that coach Stefano Pioli will remain at Milan, so is the same true of Rafael Leao?
“I have a contract with Milan, you never know what the future holds. However, my heart and mind are with Milan, this is my home, they helped me grow as a player and I am happy here.”
Leao has been wearing a knitted wristband with ‘Leao 10’ written on it, which was given to him by a fan ahead of the match against Napoli.
“There are always kids during the warm-up, there was one child who gave me this and it was a lovely moment. I felt that it would bring me luck, so I had to wear it.”
What is the dream now for Leao and Milan in the current campaign?
“Clearly, winning something important like the Europa League. We have a very important game coming up, we want to climb the Serie A table too and consolidate second place.”
Milan will go into an all-Italian derby with Roma in the quarter-final of the Europa League, a tournament that the Rossoneri have never won in their history, even when it was called the UEFA Cup.