AC Milan Star Rafael Leao Lavishes Praise on Chelsea’s Reece James Days After UCL Humiliation

• AC Milan winger has admitted that Reece James gave him a hard time when his side faced Chelsea in the Champions League
• James grabbed a goal and an assist in the game as Chelsea swept aside the Scudetto winners in style
• The full-back was also able to silence Leao, who has been AC Milan's main source of creativity and ingenuity

Rafael Leao has described Reece James as the toughest opponent he has ever faced. The AC Milan star came up against James when his side faced Chelsea in the Champions League last week.

The Italian champions were humbled 3-0 by a near-perfect Chelsea side. James played the entire 90 minutes while Leao was hooked off after 72 minutes for Brahim Diaz.

James was among the Chelsea goals after finishing off a Raheem Sterling layoff with a trademark ferocious shot that stand-in goalkeeper Ciprian Tătăruşanu could do nothing about.

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The Englishman had also earlier supplied Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with an assist. Defensively, he put in another solid masterclass to keep the dangerous Leao at bay.

Leao has come of age at AC Milan

Leao has been AC Milan's go-to person in the attack. The Portuguese winger helped the Stefano Pioli side to the Scudetto last season with 11 goals and 10 assists. This season, he is already on four goals and four assists.

But against Chelsea, he failed to tick with James constantly on his neck. The 23-year-old who has been linked with a move to Chelsea, admitted as much as quoted by Goal.

"James is a good player, he was all over me and everywhere at the same time, he timed his runs very fine. I hardly talk about opposing players but this guy is actually the toughest I have faced I think. He scored a goal too against us and that’s something you don’t get from every defender."

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Leao is on Chelsea's radar and it is believed the Todd Boehly-owned side will try and make a move in January. Milan and Chelsea meet again on Tuesday, with victory for either side virtually guaranteeing progression to the round of 16.

Thiago Silva claims that Reece James has all it takes to be a future star

Sports Brief had earlier reported that veteran defender Thiago Silva has heaped praise on young right-back, Reece James, saying he can only see him grow into a world-class defender.

Reece James has been Chelsea's story of the season so far and scored a stunning goal for the Blues in the Champions League match versus AC Milan on Wednesday.

James produced back-to-back brilliant performances against arguably the two best wingers in world football, Crystal Palace's Wilfred Zaha and AC Milan's Rafael Leao.