Di Canio Questions Amorim as Benfica Expose Milan’s Lack of Identity

Milan’s Europa League opening night ended in defeat at San Siro, where Benfica’s greater fluency stood in contrast to a Rossoneri side still searching for a settled identity under Ruben Amorim.

Key takeaways

• Benfica beat Milan at San Siro in the opening round of the Europa League.
• Paolo Di Canio described Benfica as a team whose players understand each other instinctively.
• He argued that Milan remain a work in progress under Amorim.
• Adrien Rabiot was left out of the starting line-up despite his senior standing.
• Di Canio questioned Amorim’s relationship with experienced players, also recalling concerns from his Manchester United spell.

Di Canio questions Amorim’s Milan management

The defeat brought immediate scrutiny of Milan’s direction, with Di Canio focusing less on one European evening than on the wider condition of the squad. In his view, Benfica arrived with the certainty of a group that has absorbed its routines, while Milan looked like a side still being assembled around their coach’s principles.

“The difference was enormous,” Di Canio said. “Benfica have players who move almost from memory, while Milan are still an open building site, with a coach trying to impose his own ideas. It showed.”

His most pointed criticism concerned Rabiot’s absence from the initial XI. Di Canio suggested that the French midfielder’s experience has not translated into a straightforward dialogue with the coach, claiming Amorim does not properly engage with older players whose stature can exceed his own.

Di Canio also linked the present situation to Amorim’s time in charge of Manchester United, saying similar issues had emerged in his dealings with both the dressing room and individual players there. For Milan, the Benfica loss therefore becomes more than an early Europa League setback: it sharpens the question of whether Amorim can bring senior voices and his developing project into the same rhythm.

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