A Reshuffled and Defeated Milan: Ruben Amorim Explains His Decisions Against Benfica
Milan put in a poor performance and suffered a defeat at San Siro, where Benfica secured a well-deserved 2-0 victory, marking a rough start to Ruben Amorim’s team’s Europa League campaign. The Portuguese coach himself found himself at the center of criticism for several lineup decisions, including his choice to bring in star players like Christian Pulisic and Adrien Rabiot only after the game had already started. Amorim himself sought to clarify his decisions in the post-match interview, also outlining the issues the team still needs to resolve.
“Rabiot had only played the full 90 minutes for the first time in Rome, and we also need to be aware of Pulisic’s situation. Moreira, on the other hand, has had to deal with some personal issues; he hasn’t trained for the past two days,” Amorim explained. “But Milan’s problems aren’t about individuals; we need to improve as a team. We’ve been working together for two months, and I’m constantly making changes. We’ll find the right solutions to adapt to certain matches. We need to develop fluidity when we have possession; we’re not creating chances and we lack creativity up front. But everything is connected—in fact, we’re having problems at the back as well. The fact remains that for the second time in a row, we weren’t in the game during the first half. We’re lacking a bit of organization; we need to improve on these details. We need to develop a game plan, but we also need to win matches.”
Amorim’s words ring even more bitter when you consider what he said just before the match, when the Portuguese coach had raised the bar in no uncertain terms: “I want to take Milan all the way—at least to the final,” he had said at a press conference, adding that “every competition must be played with the goal of winning it.” Words that 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 due to his past as a player and his connection to president Rui Costa.
On a tactical level, the decision to field Filippo Terracciano in the defensive trio alongside De Winter and Pavlovic drew attention: the former Verona player hadn’t started for Milan since December 29, 2024. The goals by Lukebakio in the 16th minute and Kaminski in the 53rd minute both came after individual or collective errors that were repeated throughout the rest of the match, such as the turnover by Jashari that nearly proved costly shortly after the visitors took the lead, when Sudakov hit the post. From the very first minute of the second half, Amorim tried to turn things around by bringing on Pulisic and Gila, but it was Gila himself who shared the blame for Benfica’s second goal, standing motionless—just like Pavlovic and De Winter—as Kaminski tapped in the winning goal.
This European defeat comes at a time when things weren’t going particularly well for the Rossoneri anyway, coming off two consecutive league draws against Juventus and Lazio. In the standings, Milan is among the group of teams tied for fourth place with 7 points, trailing Roma, Inter, and Lazio—one of the surprises of this early season. Their next Europa League match will be in a month in Salzburg, with the Rossoneri already aware that they must win to avoid further complicating their path in the competition.
