Leao was loudly jeered at San Siro both at half-time and when he left the field in the 77th minute, in a match where Milan were disorganised, defensively poor and incapable of converting the chances they created. The loss — their third in four games — leaves them third but with Como and Juventus now threatening to close the gap.
Rabiot was honest in his assessment when speaking after the match but took clear aim at the treatment of his teammate.
"It's a heavy defeat, I can understand the fans being disappointed. But I was disappointed by the booing of Leao. In my opinion, right now we need to support him. That didn't help him, and it was not nice to see."
On the performance itself, Rabiot did not spare himself or the team.
"Maybe physically I don't know, but mentally there is a bit of fatigue, that's true. In this match we showed less solidity. We know that when we defend well, most of the time we find the goal and win games. Today we were too disorganised, we defended badly, we gave up too many counter-attacks."
He took personal responsibility too.
"We all made mistakes and I was the first. I was also lacking sharpness on some things. The manager always talks to us about marking, we lost our clarity because we wanted to score and push forward with too many men. Right now on the pitch I also lost the clarity to look around and tell others to stay a bit more concentrated. We will review this game and analyse it."
On the failure to convert chances, Rabiot was equally direct.
"It's a problem recently — we create a lot of chances but don't finish them. And if you also defend badly you concede goals. We need to work on that."
Coach Massimiliano Allegri, who was serving a touchline suspension, spoke calmly to the squad afterwards according to Rabiot.
"He was very calm. He told us to stay composed, that the objective is still there. We need to switch immediately and think about the Verona game. Composure and unity — he was very calm."
Milan's Champions League place is now not the formality it once seemed. With six games left, Allegri's side need a response — and fast.