Three goals in less than an hour: Who is Alphadjo Cissé, the Italian star who led Milan to the Europa League?

Milan crushed Salzburg 4-0 in their match on Matchday 2 of the Europa League group stage. In Austria, the Rossoneri dominated the match, led by an Alphadjo Cissé in top form: the young Italian international, who will turn 20 in a few days, scored a hat trick in the span of 50 minutes.

Having come up through Verona’s youth system, Cissé made his debut with the Gialloblu’s first team in 2023 before going on loan to Catanzaro in Serie B last season. This summer, Ruben Amorim was impressed by his skills during preseason training and decided to keep him on the first team: the young player, who has already scored twice in the league, is now repaying that faith in European competition as well. It’s been a meteoric rise that has also led him to make his debut for Italy’s Under-21 team, where he has made four appearances.

Against Salzburg, the 19-year-old from Treviso, of Guinean descent, scored in the 15th minute off an assist from Hutchinson, then doubled the lead in the 32nd minute by putting the ball in the net off a cross from Bartesaghi. Early in the second half, he scored his third goal with a turn-and-shoot finish off an assist from Rabiot.

Milan added another goal through Gonçalo Ramos, set up by Jashari after a poor turnover by Mazurek. 4.0. In stoppage time, the Rossoneri were reduced to 10 men following Terracciano’s ejection for a last-man foul. With this victory, the Diavolo moves up to 3 points, redeeming themselves after their opening-match loss to Benfica.