Massimiliano Allegri sees potential in Rafael Leao, expecting him to excel in his new role. Despite not scoring against Juventus, Allegri is confident in Leao's growth. AC Milan drew 0-0 with Juventus in Serie
A on Sunday. Christian Pulisic missed a first-half penalty for Milan, who had a higher expected goals (xG) of 1.7 compared to Juventus' 1.1.
Leao entered the match in the 63rd minute and had three shots, two of which were significant chances. He contributed an xG of 0.4, second only to Pulisic's 0.8. Allegri believes Leao will improve as he adapts to playing as a striker instead of his usual winger position. "He's been out for 45 days, so he's still finding rhythm," Allegri said about Leao.
Milan has struggled with penalties recently, missing five out of their last seven attempts in the league. Since early 2024, they've missed seven out of 13 penalties awarded in Serie A, the highest miss rate among top European leagues at 54%. Allegri commented on Pulisic's missed penalty: "I didn't even see how Pulisic took the penalty – penalties get missed. "
Allegri noted that Pulisic remains the designated penalty taker despite his miss, but they need to identify another player for when Pulisic is unavailable. "Pulisic has always been the penalty kick taker," Allegri stated firmly.
Leao made his 200th Serie A appearance and was brought on as a striker rather than a winger. Allegri supports this change due to Leao’s past experience playing as a striker at Lille. "He played as a striker at Lille, so it's not new to him," Allegri explained.
Allegri praised Leao's movement during Luka Modric's pass but stressed that players like him must capitalize on such opportunities: "His movement on [Luka] Modric's pass was perfect, but a player like him, with two chances like that, must score. "
Milan vs Juventus Match Analysis
The match saw Milan narrowly edge Juventus in shots with a count of 13 to 12 but failed to find the net. In the first half, both teams were evenly matched; however, Milan improved physically in the second half and created more chances.
"We played a balanced first half – they closed spaces well," Allegri remarked about their performance against Juventus. He added that Milan needed more ruthlessness when they had control over the game: "When we had Juventus in our hands, we needed more ruthlessness. "
Despite not conceding any goals, Allegri emphasized the importance of seizing critical moments: "The positive is that we didn't concede, but at certain moments, you have to kill the game. "
