Rafael Leão substituted by Milan boss Conceição due to attitude – report | OneFootball

It has been a bad week for Italian giants AC Milan. Sérgio Conceição’s side were eliminated from the Champions League by Feyenoord, after which a 2-1 defeat at Torino dealt a major blow to their hopes of a top 4 finish in Serie A.

Star Portuguese duo Rafael Leão and João Félix have come under fire in recent days, after both were hauled off on Saturday in Turin. The decision to substitute Leão at half time has been a particularly big talking point, with reports suggesting Conceição’s relationship with the forward is becoming strained.

Milan were 1-0 down to Torino when Leão was replaced at the interval. According to Corriere dello Sport, the decision was made after Conceição addressed Leão in the changing room. The manager asked for more commitment and was left unimpressed by Leão’s reaction, leading him to introduce Youssouf Fofana in place of the former Sporting man.

Félix, meanwhile, was removed with twenty minutes remaining and has received criticism in sections of the Italian media. Newspaper Tuttosport writes that after a bright start, the ‘João Félix effect already suffered a strong decline’ while one prominent journalist, Fabio Ravezzani, took things a little far by stating that Félix “is as good looking as he is useless”. Conceição, who pushed hard for Félix‘s arrival, reportedly retains faith in the player.

Although Conceição has only been in charge at San Siro for less than two months, pressure is already growing on the ex-Porto boss to deliver an upturn in results before the end of the season. Corriere dello Sport point out that from his first 15 matches in charge of Milan, Conceição’s results are marginally worse than the final 15 matches of previous boss Paulo Fonseca.