Alphadjo Cisse gave Milan’s European season its first victory in emphatic fashion, scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 Europa League win away to Salzburg. For the 2006-born attacker from Treviso, it was a night that carried both immediate value for the Rossoneri and a place in the club’s record books.
Key takeaways
- Cisse struck three times as Milan secured their first Europa League win of the campaign in Salzburg.
- At 19 years and 365 days, he became the youngest Italian player to score a European hat-trick.
- His first-half double had already made him Milan’s youngest player to score more than once before half-time in a European match.
- The trequartista now leads Milan’s seasonal scoring chart with five goals, including two in league football.
- No Italian Milan player had registered a hat-trick for the club in 24 years before Cisse’s display.
A rare Milan landmark in Europe
The scale of Cisse’s contribution went beyond a comfortable away result. His three goals were the first in European competition of his senior career, and they made him the youngest Italian ever to complete a hat-trick in a European tournament.
His opening two goals had already set another club mark: no younger Milan player had previously scored multiple times in the opening half of a European fixture. The third completed a milestone that had been absent from the Rossoneri’s Italian contingent for more than two decades.
The last Italian to score three times for Milan was Filippo Inzaghi, whose hat-trick came in a 4-0 away Champions League victory over Deportivo La Coruna on 24 September 2002. Cisse’s Salzburg evening therefore echoed an old scoreline while giving the present Milan side a different kind of reference point.
Team result comes first for Cisse
Despite moving to the top of Milan’s scoring list this season, Cisse placed the emphasis on the collective response. “My own record is secondary at the moment,” he said after the match. “Winning was what mattered tonight, and we did that, so we are pleased.”
He also described the encouragement he has received from Amorim as an important source of confidence. Cisse acknowledged that he arrived from Serie B, but said the welcome from his new team-mates had helped make the step up easier.
Although he has been used as an attacking midfielder, Cisse pointed to his experience with the national team, where he has played as a centre-forward. Those movements, he explained, remain part of his game and helped shape a performance that turned Milan’s trip to Salzburg into a defining early chapter of his season.
