Key player returns for AC Milan ahead of Supercoppa final

AC Milan have received an injury boost ahead of their Italian Supercoppa final against city rivals Inter Milan.

This is following Rafael Leao’s return to a full training session with the rest of the team on the eve of the Supercoppa Final.

However,  Matteo Gabbia, who was a substitute in the semifinal clash against Juventus, was absent due to a fever.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport,  the Portuguese forward worked with his teammates throughout the entire training session, having suffered a flexor injury at the end of December during a Serie A match against Hellas Verona.

Having missed Friday’s semifinal against Juventus, he is expected to be available against Inter on Monday, but it’s unsure he’ll start.

On the other hand, Gabbia missed Sunday’s training session due to a fever, and it remains to be seen if he will recover for the Milan match.

Meanwhile, Milan are also without the injured Samuel Chukwueze, Noah Okafor, and Alessandro Florenzi.

Inter are also preparing for the final clash at Riyadh. They also trained on Sunday and will be facing Milan without the injured Marcus Thuram and Joaquin Correa.

In another development, former Milan coach Stefano Pioli has revealed how he used to get the best out of Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao.

The former Fiorentina manager revealed that he used to push  Hernandez in training and use Cristiano Ronaldo as an example for Rafael Leao.

Giving his opinion on how to get the best out of the two Rossoneri stars. Pioli, who is the current head coach of Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr, told La Gazzetta dello Sport that it was often difficult to keep Theo motivated.

The coach further said there isn’t another footballer on the planet who is capable of doing what the French defender does best. 

The duo have come under criticism recently, to the extent that former Milan manager Paulo Fonseca dropped the duo after failing to live up to expectations.

“Theo is a good guy. Everyone has their strategies to get the best out of the players. There wasn’t a single day in Milan where I didn’t have to push him. But tell me a single left-back in the world who can change a game the way he can. 

“They’ve criticized me for only using the carrot. That’s not true; I just didn’t show the stick in public. 

Pioli believes that Leao, who does not respond well to criticism, still has the potential to become one of the world’s best players.