AC Milan and Real Madrid will go head to head on Tuesday night in the Champions League with both sides having a point to prove to their fans. Real are coming off a 4-0 Clasico drubbing, while Milan have been mired in controversy all season long since hiring Paulo Fonseca.
Real Madrid are the favorites despite their horrible loss to Barcelona, because experienced Madridistas will tell you of all the times the club have bounced back stronger than ever from a humiliation that woke them up by shaking the foundation to its core.
As Real Madrid await the return of Rodrygo Goes in the attack, Milan are also set to welcome back a world-class attacking player who hasn’t been starting by choice.
Rafael Leao, as usual, has become the center of controversy in Milan, except the situation is very much not his fault. Fonseca has somehow picked out the most talented Milan player, a former MVP of Serie A, as his scapegoat.
Fonseca has benched Leao in consecutive games, and many fans were wondering if the Portuguese international would be benched again for one of the biggest games of the season against Real Madrid.
Relevo insider Matteo Moretto reports that this will not be the case. He states that Rafael Leao is expected to start for AC Milan on Tuesday night at the Santiago Bernabeu.
That could spell disaster for Real Madrid. Normally, they wouldn’t be too shaken up about facing a great left winger, because Real have one of the best right backs of this era in Dani Carvajal.
But Carvajal recently suffered a torn ACL, forcing attacker Lucas Vazquez to go back to what has become his main job for Real Madrid, playing at right back in the stead of the 2024 Ballon d’Or finalist.
Vazquez is normally a decent option, but he is very vulnerable against explosive, top left wingers. Raphinha took Vazquez to school in El Clasico, sending alarm bells across the Valdebebas.
A hungry, angry Leao could do even more damage. He has taken over big games by himself, memorably the Champions League quarterfinal against Napoli in 2023 to send Milan to the semis.
The right side of the Real Madrid defense is the biggest weakness in an overall shaky defensive setup, and Carlo Ancelotti has to worry that Leao could really blow things wide open on Tuesday night with everyone watching.
