Rafael Leao confession: ‘Milan performance not at right level’ | OneFootball

Rafael Leao admits Milan ‘did not have the same grit and aggression’ as Feyenoord, so their performance was ‘not up to the level’ of a Champions League play-off.

It had been a brave decision to unleash the Fantastic Four from the start for the first time, with Santiago Gimenez supported by Joao Felix, Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic.

However, they conceded in the third minute when Mike Maignan’s howler let the hopeful Igor Paixao snapshot squirm in at the near bottom corner and they never really recovered, creating few big scoring opportunities in the 1-0 defeat.

“We did not have the same grit and aggression that Feyenoord did,” confessed Leao to Amazon Prime Video Italia.

“We were not up to the level of this match. I too had an opportunity in the first half that I was unable to make the most of.

“Now we have to go home, rest and see what we didn’t do right today. The second leg is at San Siro in front of our fans, while Feyenoord are really helped by the home crowd. It was not a good performance, we’ve got to study what went wrong.”

Leao admits Milan attitude was wrong yet again

epa11891748 Antoni Milambo of Feyenoord (L) guards Santiago Gimenez of AC Milan (C-R) during the UEFA Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Feyenoord and AC Milan, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 12 February 2025. EPA-EFE/OLAF KRAAK

It is not over yet, but Milan need to win by two clear goals at San Siro for the second leg on Tuesday night to reach the Champions League Round of 16.

Check the Football Italia Player Ratings for Feyenoord 1-0 Milan

“There are no excuses, we needed to be as aggressive as them and win all the duels,” added Leao.

“Now the game is over, we’ve got to do better the next time. We must have the right attitude for an important Champions League tie, which we did not do today.

“If we do that, with the quality we’ve got in the side, we will win the match.”

This is hardly the first time that Milan’s stars have been accused of not having the right attitude and once again their first half was considerably worse than the second.

It is a recurring motif that even new coach Sergio Conceicao has so far been unable to resolve.