There are teams that no matter what periods they will go through, how many difficulties they will encounter along the way and what managerial and professional transformation they will have to deal with, their name will be an inseparable part of the Champions League.
One of these teams is Milan.
The one who previously won the most important event on the continent five times, went through difficult seasons in recent years, drifted away from the top of European football, had to watch her rivals in Italy soar, while she herself tried to find a way to return to the front of the stage.
Tonight, after winning an exciting championship last season, (10:00 p.m.) the Rossoneri will open the group stage with an away match against RB Salzburg and will showcase one of the hottest players today - Rafael Laao.
If his 11 goals and 10 assists last season that brought the Scudetto back to the club after 11 years were not enough for him to become the talk of the day, last Saturday came the derby of the fashion city against Inter.
Lao scored a double when one of the goals had already entered the pantheon, added an assist and gave his team a prestigious 2:3.
It was the first time a player finished with such a record in the Milan derby since Andrei Shevchenko in 2001.
Also, it was the first time since the 2010/11 season that Milan recorded two consecutive victories in the "Derby della Madonina".
3 goals and 2 assists in five official matches. These are the statistics of the Portuguese this season who celebrated on June 23, which currently puts Milan in third place, 2 points away from the leader Atalanta.
His start to the season has been so convincing that some of the Italian media, in addition to comparing him to Kylian Mbappe, have not hesitated to assert that his value has already soared to sums that could exceed 100 million euros, sums that Milan reportedly rejected last summer from teams such as PSG and C. to Si.
Rafael Leao v Inter was one hell of a show [@LSVids] #Milan pic.twitter.com/q0Xd4gY06d
— Follow @footitalia1 (@footitalia2) September 3, 2022
The rise of Lao in the last year and a half can be "put down" to quite a few variables.
After showing mediocre and unstable ability in the first two years, Ben Siro, after being acquired from Lille in the summer of 2019, many things happened that changed the picture.
The arrival of Stefano Pioli, who believed in him from the first moment and said that he reminded him of Thierry Henry, the comeback of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to San Siro who took him under his wing, the strengthening of the whole team which made him more dynamic as well, and of course the recovery process that the entire club is going through after very embarrassing years, led to this The diamond began to undergo massive polishing.
Thiago Fernandez, who worked with him in the youth department of Sporting Lisbon, said a few months ago to the French "L'Equip" that he thinks Lao is the best player in the history of the club's academy.
Yes, even more than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Like quite a few players around Europe, he also grew up as a striker but his rare dribbling, speed, passing and vision of the game led to him being shifted to the wing position.
Pioli, who signed the renaissance of Milan in general and Lau in particular, placed him mainly in the left wing position and sometimes used him as a second striker and since his arrival, Lau has not stopped.
Lao scores against Inter.
A game for the Pantheon, photo: IPA
Lao's ability to change the game, excel in the important moments and the talent that finally began to burst out, probably also led to a call-up to the Portugal team.
The problem is that so far, Fernando Santos hasn't really given him serious opportunities in the lineup.
Now, when we are about two and a half months away from the opening of the World Cup in Qatar, it seems that Lau is on the safe way to the Selção lineup, no matter how much load there is in its attack.
Lao celebrates his goals with a surfing motion, and if you see his performance on the field and the lightness of his body movements, you can think that he spends a lot of time at sea.
Even on the networks, as he did after the derby, he usually uses a surfboard emoji.
In an interview with Dazn last March, he explained that he greatly appreciates surfers.
"Always after they catch a wave, they go back to the deep, catch another wave and improve. I think this is the right way," he said, "You can try and you can screw up in life, but you have to keep learning, find solutions to the mistakes you made."
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