Ruben Amorim has urged Milan to turn the page after the Benfica defeat and make Lecce the immediate priority, with the Rossoneri coach framing Saturday’s Serie A meeting as another step in a side still taking shape.
Speaking before the fifth league matchday, Amorim said the club’s attention had remained on the work required on the pitch despite recent visits and discussions involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic and owner Gerry Cardinale. He said Ibrahimovic’s visit concerned his responsibilities within the club, while the conversation with Cardinale had simply centred on Milan.
The press conference opened on a sombre note, with Amorim offering Milan’s condolences following the death of Sandro Mazzola. He extended sympathy to Mazzola’s family, Inter and the country, adding that football must honour its great figures, drawing a parallel with the loss Milan experienced with Baresi.
Lecce comes before the response to Benfica
Milan arrive at the Lecce match after losing to Benfica, but Amorim rejected the idea that the result could be undone through regret. Defeat, he said, inevitably affects people, but the past cannot be altered; the task is to improve and win the next fixtures.
He pointed to San Siro’s 100th anniversary as an occasion Milan want to mark properly. Amorim described the stadium as an iconic part of football history and said his players want to produce a convincing display as well as a victory for the supporters.
The coach did not accept that Milan’s early-game scoring record should be treated as a lasting concern. He referred to good first-half performances and chances against Torino and Venezia, suggesting the issue was circumstantial rather than structural. Opponents can be more compact before the interval, he said, while changes after the break can alter a match. Above all, he stressed the importance of avoiding concessions.
Amorim also defended his use of rotation against Benfica. He noted that Benfica had made nine changes from their previous line-up and said Milan also needed to manage their resources. In his view, the first-half selection was not responsible for the loss: Milan had more of the ball and created more opportunities, but did not convert them.
“We want to control matches and score,” Amorim said. “There have been games in which we controlled things, even if not for the full 90 minutes. Beating Lecce is what matters now. We are still building, and this is a useful opportunity to raise our level on the field.”
Principles over a fixed formation
Addressing comments made after the Benfica game, including Fabio Capello’s suggestion that Milan might need a different approach to defend better, Amorim said the debate was about interpretation rather than a rigid tactical system.
He explained that he is not attached to one formation and instead judges the team through its playing principles. A new coach, he said, cannot immediately have every profile required for every possible game state. Amorim added that better possession can itself improve Milan’s defensive work, maintaining that this is consistent with his approach.
The coach was similarly careful when asked about his team selection. In an exchange with a journalist, Amorim invited him to name his preferred starting XI and then questioned who should play in midfield, citing Luka Modric as an example. He reminded the room that Modric had also been described as unable to cope with three games in one week.
After the journalist replied that he was not a coach, Amorim explained the point behind the exchange: opinions on players can change from one week to the next. His responsibility, he said, is to win as many matches as possible while keeping a longer-term balance that reflects the club’s approach.
“Nobody wants to win more than I do,” he said. “Tomorrow I will choose the side, perhaps with the idea of having the right energy from the bench to win it in the second half.”
Selection choices and dressing-room clarity
Amorim said Christian Pulisic, Moreira and either Samuel Chukwueze or Alexis Saelemaekers could feature together, while Pulisic and Cissé are also capable of sharing the pitch. However, he insisted that supporters and media do not see every element he must weigh during the training week.
His selections, he said, are based on what he observes at Milanello, and combinations that have not yet appeared could be used as soon as the Lecce match. He also accepted that players left out of the side will naturally be unhappy, but said honesty is the essential requirement in managing the squad.
With the schedule set to become more demanding after the international break, when Milan will face matches every three days, Amorim said the group understands the need for decisions and rotation. For Milan, the next chapter is not about revisiting Benfica but about producing a more complete response against Lecce at San Siro.
