Leao And Hernandez Of Milan Are Back In The Squad For Their Matchup With Club Brugge

AC Milan manager Paulo Fonseca confirmed that Rafael Leao, the talented winger, and Theo Hernandez, the solid defender, are set to make their return to the starting lineup for the pivotal Champions League matchup against Club Brugge at home. 

This comes after the duo missed out on the weekend Serie A fixture. Fonseca revealed the exciting news as he unveiled the team composition on Monday, highlighting the importance of their presence in the upcoming game.

“They will play tomorrow from the first minute,”

Following his red card in the 2-1 loss to Fiorentina, Hernandez was suspended for Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Udinese, and Leao was benched following the loss, which infuriated Fonseca.

Fonseca said “They will play tomorrow from the first minute, I expect from them what I expect from everyone, that they give their best to help Milan win. It’s a normal situation, even for them. And tomorrow they play.”

Fonseca took the uncommon step of announcing his lineup, and Samuel Chukwueze, who scored the game-winning goal against Udinese, is expected to be one of the substitutes for the Brugge match.

He said “I will tell you straight away tomorrow’s team, Mike Maignan, Emerson Royal, Matteo Gabbia, Fikayo Tomori, Hernandez, Youssouf Fofana, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tijani Reijnders, Leao, Christian Pulisic, Alvaro Morata.”

“We started against two of the strongest teams in Europe right now”

With losses to Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen, Milan has had a difficult Champions League debut in terms of both opposition and outcomes. Fonseca is aware that this game is practically a must-win.

Fonseca explained “We started against two of the strongest teams in Europe right now. They were two different games, Difficulties against Liverpool, quality against Leverkusen, especially in the second half. We didn’t win but we showed signs of growth.”

“We have to continue to grow in this competition and we want to win if we want to have a chance to continue. It’s not decisive but it is important, we have to win.” He added.

There are not enough forwards for Milan. Luka Jovic was left out of the Champions League roster, and Tammy Abraham was hurt minutes after taking the field on Saturday. 

Francesco Camarda, who was called up from the youth team, would be the youngest player to ever score in the Champions League if he were to enter the game and score at the age of 16 and 226 days.

The coach stated “This is not a normal situation to have Abraham and Jovic out, Normally we always have solutions, plus we have Camarda in who we believe a lot. I don’t think we need other players in this position.”

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