Milan: A Nightmare Hour at San Siro Against Benfica—All of Amorim’s Missteps
The first hour of Milan vs. Benfica turned out to be a waking nightmare for Ruben Amorim’s Rossoneri. The Portuguese coach, a former star player in this very match, saw his team fall behind by two goals just over half an hour into the 90-minute game. There were plenty of individual errors by the home team, but inevitably, some of the coach’s tactical decisions will also come under fire from critics. Even before this, following the dramatic draw with Lazio, critics had already begun to turn a critical eye after a season start that was, at the very least, promising.
Amorim surprised everyone even before the opening whistle. In his starting lineup, in fact, the Portuguese coach chose Filippo Terracciano to round out the defensive trio alongside Koni De Winter and Strahinja Pavlovic. It’s worth noting that the former Verona and Cremonese player hadn’t started for Milan since December 29, 2024. In midfield, Jashari got the nod, though a turnover by him allowed Sudakov to get a shot off that hit the post. Benfica had already taken the lead in the 16th minute, thanks to a solo run by Lukebakio that caught Bartesaghi off guard, and even Jashari himself seemed rather distracted.
From the very first minute of the second half, Amorim tried to turn things around, leaving Terracciano and Hutchinson on the bench and replacing them with Pulisic and Gila. Unfortunately, Gila ended up contributing to Benfica’s second goal, scored in the 54th minute by Kaminski, with the former Lazio player standing motionless—just like Pavlovic and De Winter. The Belgian, incidentally, had made headlines a few minutes earlier by blasting an easy tap-in high over the bar following a shot by Cissé—once again one of the few bright spots for a Milan side that remains far from the high standards hoped for this summer.
A bitter evening that stands in stark contrast to the ambitions declared by Amorim himself on the eve of the match. The Portuguese coach, at a press conference, had raised the bar in no uncertain terms: “I want to take Milan all the way, at least to the final,” he had said, adding that “every competition must be played with the goal of winning it.” Those words now risk backfiring, in light of a performance that highlighted defensive fragility and a worrying lack of cohesion—precisely against an opponent, Benfica, whom Amorim knows well from his playing days and his connection to President Rui Costa.
It should be noted that the decision to field a largely reshuffled lineup had been announced and was partly justified by the need to conserve energy ahead of league matches. The Rossoneri bench, packed with quality players such as Modric, Rabiot, Saelemaekers, and Loftus-Cheek, attests to the depth of a roster built to compete on multiple fronts. However, the management of the defensive unit remains an open question: as already highlighted at the end of the transfer window, behind the starting trio of Gila, De Winter, and Pavlovic, the alternatives are limited, and Terracciano’s performance certainly did nothing to dispel doubts about this area of the field.
Among the few bright spots of the evening, the performance of Alphadjo Cissé once again stood out; the young player, born in 2006, is proving to be one of the most promising prospects on the entire Rossoneri roster. The talented player, born in Treviso to parents originally from Guinea, had already caught the eye of national team coach Roberto Mancini, with Amorim having spoken highly of him in recent days: “If he were called up to the national team, he’d have no problems—he’s already ready.” It was an off night for Milan as a whole, but that didn’t dim the young forward’s shine; he remained proactive and never gave up despite the adverse result.
