“Leao is like Loftus-Cheek and Musah. Status doesn’t play on the field”

After the 0-1 victory against AC Monza, the Rossoneri head coach, Paulo Fonseca, spoke to the media in a press conference and said these words:

“Milan not brilliant? It’s true that the first half was different from the second. Monza created some chances on their own merit, but we dominated and had our opportunities. In the second half, we played very well, with some strong offensive moments. We deserved to score more goals and to win by a larger margin.”

Fonseca, three consecutive games on the bench for Rafael Leao…

“There is no ‘Leao case.’ It’s just an option: Musah on the bench, Loftus-Cheek on the bench, Leao too. This should be normal, it should be normal.”

Yes, coach… But: Leao is not Loftus-Cheek, he’s not Musah. His status makes it news when he’s benched three times…

“No, for me Leao is like Loftus-Cheek and Musah. Status doesn’t play on the field.”

Alvaro Morata plays very deep. Is that a choice?

“I can’t explain everything, I’ll just say that Morata was outstanding. He was the man of the match, doing extremely important work for the team. Unfortunately, he didn’t score, but he had opportunities to do so. He does a great job for the team, both close to and far from the goal. Today I told Morata he was the man of the match. Madrid’s lineup? Already decided before the game. Will Leao play? Maybe, it’s a possibility.”

Did the team take a step back in their growth path today? Fonseca replied:

“I don’t agree, and anyway Monza is a quality team. I saw many positive things in the offensive phase, like the build-up play and other interesting situations. I see a team that plays well man-to-man and did well offensively. Defensively, we had a few moments of difficulty.”