Mike Maignan Not Scared Of Madrid’s Mbappe As Leao Returns For UCL Clash

Written By Onyeka Daniel

It promises to be an exciting encounter at the Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid welcome fellow European giants, AC Milan to their home ground in a UEFA Champions League fixture and with the number of stars that would be on parade, it surely will be action packed as we see some exciting attackers on display.

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For the Rossoneri, they really need to start getting the results in the competition as they’ve been far from impressive in their recent matches, losing two out of three matches. Perhaps, this is why their manager has decided to field a strong lineup. Milan coach Paulo Fonseca has confirmed that Rafael Leao will play as a starter against the Los Blanco.

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This is after the Portuguese international was dropped to the bench for all three of the Rossoneri’s most recent Serie A matches. Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the former Lille coach confirmed that Leao will start after being left out of the line-up for the 1-0 win over Udinese, the 2-0 loss to Napoli and the 1-0 win against Monza on Saturday.

“He will start tomorrow. We expect him to be able to do what he usually can,” Fonseca revealed. He went on to insist that he has no issue with the player becoming a talking point in press conferences, explaining that it is ‘normal’ for people to be concerned about one of the team’s most important players.

“I know what is important for me and for the team. It’s normal that you talk about these situations, but I have to follow my own beliefs,” the coach added. Leao has contributed to five goals from his nine appearances in Serie A this term, made up of one goal and four assists.

He is still waiting for his first goal involvement in the Champions League this term. While they will be looking to Leao for some creativity upfront, it will be the work of their goalkeeper to keep Madrid’s attack at bay, in sync with the defense and one man that would be entrusted with that task is the reliable Mike Maignan.

The Milan keeper has insisted that he is not overly concerned by the threat posed by his France international teammate Kylian Mbappe, as he pointed to his Ballon d’Or ranking as a sign of his own abilities. Maignan believes that Milan will rely on togetherness rather than tactics or individual brilliance against Carlo Ancelotti’s reigning Champions League winners.

“Having experienced players helps, but we have to play with a family spirit,” Maignan said at his pre-match press conference. Maignan was asked about Mbappe’s start to life in Madrid and the threat he could pose against Milan. “Tomorrow will be a game against Kylian. We always talk, he’s a quality player, even if he’s going through a difficult patch at the moment.

“I have no doubt that he will do well.” Maignan is not overly concerned by the threat that Madrid pose, though. “Football always brings adrenaline for me. I’m enthusiastic playing against everyone, so for me, the best thing will be to win with my teammates.” “If I don’t think I’m the best, nobody else is going to do it for me.

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“I’m fifth in the top goalkeepers in the world, but I still have to improve. My priority is tomorrow’s match.” Maignan was voted as the fifth best goalkeeper in the world at the recent Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris. He finished above Inter’s Yann Sommer (sixth), and behind Emiliano Martinez, Unai Simon, Andriy Lunin and Gianluigi Donnarumma.

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