Amorim rues Milan’s lack of threat after Benfica defeat

Ruben Amorim’s Milan have reached their first setback under his management, beaten 2-0 by Benfica in their Europa League opener after consecutive Serie A draws. The Portuguese coach saw familiar problems in the performance: possession without sufficient threat, dangerous losses of the ball and a first-half response that abandoned the team’s intended plan.

Key takeaways

• Benfica won 2-0 at Milan, handing Amorim his first defeat as Rossoneri coach.
• Milan fell behind before the interval for the second match in a row, following the Lazio game.
• Amorim said his side held the ball often but lacked imagination and movement near the penalty area.
• Adrien Rabiot and Christian Pulisic were managed after recent physical demands, while Moreira had missed training time for personal reasons.
• The coach remains open to altering his system, but stressed that results must now follow the work on the training ground.

Amorim’s verdict after Milan’s Benfica defeat

For Amorim, the Europa League loss exposed an issue that runs through both sides of Milan’s game. He wants a team capable of controlling matches with the ball, yet he felt his players too often made their own situation harder in possession than Benfica did without it.

“My idea is to play football and dominate,” Amorim said. “We have the ball, but sometimes we cause ourselves more trouble with it than the opponent causes us. We are trying to build patterns so that we can keep possession closer to the opposition box, and we did that in the second half.”

That improvement after the break did not alter his wider judgement. Milan, he said, still have considerable work ahead because their build-up has not produced enough chances or enough creativity in the decisive areas. When Benfica scored during the first half, he believed the team lost its discipline and began trying to force everything at speed, without the required quality.

Amorim’s concern is especially sharp when possession is surrendered in exposed zones. Milan’s defensive and attacking shortcomings, in his view, are linked: the difficulty in producing opportunities creates tension, while lapses in protecting the ball give opponents moments from which to hurt them.

He did not define the poor starts as a purely mental issue, but acknowledged that Milan have now gone behind before half-time in two successive matches. “We have to avoid conceding in the few situations where we have to defend,” he said. “We already have problems creating chances, so we become nervous and anxious, and everything becomes more difficult.”

The coach felt Milan played too much through central areas instead of first using the wide channels and then moving inside. He also noted that his side attacked space behind Benfica’s defence too rarely before the interval. There was more creation in the second half, but Benfica’s late second goal settled the contest.

Selection questions and the search for a working base

Amorim also explained that his selection was shaped by circumstances not always visible beyond Milanello. Rabiot had completed his first full 90 minutes in Rome, and the staff could not be certain he would safely manage another full match only three days later. Pulisic was in a comparable position.

Moreira, meanwhile, had been given two days away because of personal matters, meaning he had not been available for every training session. Amorim insisted that the discussion should not centre on individual players alone. Milan’s issue is collective work, particularly in the final phase of attacks.

“When we get close to the area, nobody is arriving in the box,” he said. “We need to be more accurate and better organised.”

Asked by Paolo Di Canio about the formation, Amorim rejected the idea that he was tied to one rigid shape. He said he changes it regularly, while accepting that a team needs an initial foundation after only two months of work together. Benfica’s victory will nevertheless prompt further adjustments.

“We lost today, and we will look for ways to change,” Amorim said. “It is right to have a base to work from, but then you have to deliver results.”