Rafa Leao as soon as once more made a decisive contribution to , however he thanked his teammate Yousouff Fofana for giving him a ‘good ball’ which allowed him to open the scoring for the hosts together with his second consecutive Champions League objective.
The Rossoneri nonetheless made a late objective from substitute Tammy Abraham within the closing minutes to choose up all three factors, however the Portuguese star insisted their victory was ‘deserved’ and that they anticipated a tough recreation, regardless of conceding they ‘misplaced focus mentally’ within the second half, permitting the guests to equalise.
Leao is conscious that Pink Star’s objective made ‘issues a bit extra difficult’, because the , making the distinction between reserving a direct spot for the spherical of 16 or going by the play-off spherical.
Leao: Fofana ‘is aware of’ me, Milan ‘saved battling’ for Pink Star win
“We all know the subsequent two matches received’t be simple,” Leao advised Milan TV after the match, as .
“At the moment we made issues a bit extra difficult for ourselves. It’s a objective, in fact, and the entire group needs to be among the many greatest in Europe.
So we have to begin sturdy within the upcoming video games and present that Milan need to win.
“The coach had already spoken about it throughout the week, describing them as a group that waits for the counter-attack, waits for us to make a mistake within the center, as a result of they defend along with a low block.
“There’s no area within the center, so that they have been all the time making an attempt to counter-attack to create hazard, and that’s how they scored.
“Then, within the second half, we misplaced focus mentally, we weren’t actually within the recreation. However I’ve to present ourselves credit score as a result of we didn’t cease, we saved battling, saved looking for the objective, and in the long run, it got here.”
“He’s a vital participant,” Leao continued, talking of Fofana.
“He’s somebody I get alongside very properly with. That motion is one thing he is aware of, he is aware of that when I’ve area, I make that run.
“The ball was good; I simply needed to management it properly after which shoot rapidly earlier than the goalkeeper arrived. Sure, I’m pleased with the objective. However an important factor was the win. It was tough, however in the long run, we deserved it.”