Three months into his Milan tenure, Amorim’s honeymoon ended on the opening night of the Europa League league phase, and the diagnosis he offered afterwards was not one he tried to soften.
“We’re not very organised,” he told reporters after the final whistle on Wednesday.
“For the first goal, when the player carries the ball, we’re already too deep.”
Dodi Lukebakio and Jakub Kaminski scored either side of half-time to give Benfica a piece of history: their first ever win over Milan in seven meetings. Lukebakio curled the opener into the bottom corner in the 16th minute after cutting inside from the right, and Kaminski added the second in the 53rd, heading in Souffian El Karouani’s cross from the left.
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Benfica end their San Siro wait
Before Wednesday the head-to-head had read two draws and four Benfica defeats. The Portuguese side arrived having lost just one of their 12 games this season, and goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin kept a clean sheet with a strong save from Christian Pulisic at the near post after the break. Georgiy Sudakov had earlier struck the woodwork at the other end.
Milan had begun their season with two wins and two draws in Serie A. This was the first time an Amorim side had lost since he took the job.
‘No one attacks the space’
The head coach’s post-match assessment was unusually granular.
“Sometimes we create more problems for ourselves when we have the ball than when the opponent has it,” Amorim said.
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“It’s true, especially in the first half, no one was attacking the space behind the defence.”
“We get close to the box a lot, but no one attacks it, even when Chukwueze crosses.”
Mario Gila and Pulisic had been introduced at half-time, but Amorim refused to lean on his changes as an alibi.
“I’m constantly changing. We’ve done two months of work, and we’ll definitely find ways to adapt.”
The dressing room echoed the tone. Alexis Saelemaekers conceded Milan “have no excuses”, while defender Koni De Winter said the players still “have faith in the coach’s ideas”.
Milan return to Serie A action this weekend before matchday two of the Europa League league phase.
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