Rafael Leao returned to top form against Udinese, inspiring Milan to a 4-0 away win at the BluEnergy Stadium by scoring the opener and providing an assist.
The Portugal international had gone three Serie A matches without a goal contribution, but he reminded everyone of his quality with a scintillating performance that earned widespread praise from the Italian media, who named him Milan’s standout player on the night.
Leao opened the scoring with a stunning first-time strike that soared past Maduka Okoye into the top corner, before assisting Milan’s fourth goal with a delicate chip over the Udinese goalkeeper to set up Tijjani Reijnders.
Leao back to his best as Milan cruise past Udinese: Italian media ratings
More than that, he looked perfectly at ease in Sergio Conceiçao’s newly implemented 3-4-3 system, constantly troubling the opposition and proving dangerous whenever he had the chance to take on defenders, as La Gazzetta dello Sport highlighted, awarding him a rating of 8/10.
Tuttosport defined his seventh Serie A goal as an ‘absolute gem’ and gave him a 7.5/10 rating, highlighting how his presence was also pivotal in the build-up to Theo Hernandez’s third goal of the evening.
Il Corriere dello Sport also awarded him a similarly high rating, emphasising the quality of his ‘perfect’ assist for Reijnders.
Leao now has seven Serie A goals to his name this season—all of them scored away from home—along with nine assists in 30 appearances.
