Rúben Amorim opens fire on Milan's players after the humiliating defeat

A dark night at the San Siro

Milan suffered a resounding European slap. Hungary's Ferencvaros stunned them at home, winning 2-0 to ignite the fury of Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim, who made no attempt to hide his displeasure. He aimed sharp criticism at his players and demanded more humility, focus and responsibility.

Milan had hoped to build on their precious 3-1 derby win over rivals Inter and restore their balance in the Europa League. Instead, the team flopped. This fresh defeat only deepens their troubles in the competition.

Amorim changed his starting line-up from the derby, keeping only five players: Ramos, Rabiot, Musah, De Winter and Diawara. The tweaks fell flat. The team looked completely off the pace.

Watching his players fade, the Portuguese coach grew angrier and sent Moreira and Christian Pulisic to warm up at the break. Before they could enter, Haitian striker Lenny Joseph settled the contest with goals in the 52nd and 66th minutes, pouncing on a glaring defensive error from Belgian Koni De Winter.

De Winter had no answers afterwards, admitting his team had lost focus once again. "These are moments when we lose our focus again. Nothing was going well today, and I cannot explain it. It is about mentality, and about the way we approach matches and our style of play. This is our weak point," he said.

Amorim, meanwhile, laid into his players during his post-match comments, insisting the team had not been ready and that the collapse ran deeper than tactics.

"There is no explanation, and I do not know what to say, especially regarding the first half," the Portuguese coach said. "I do not remember us putting in a first half this bad before. The matter is about ambition and focus, as we gave the opponent chances and committed naive mistakes."

"We were not ready to play football tonight," he added. "It is difficult to find the right words to explain what happened. Simply, we were not ready to move from the derby match to a different competition. When you wear the Milan shirt, you bear a great responsibility, and you cannot appear in this way."

Then came an admission of his own. "Perhaps I too did not succeed in making sure the team was ready to enter the pitch. We are not ready to compete on two fronts, Serie A and the Europa League. We have to work on our vision of football and our approach to matches. There are no excuses, and I have nothing to say," Amorim said.

He pressed on: "I usually find many words to defend my team, but not this time. We have to have more humility and understand what happened. Perhaps I made a mistake during the past two days, but the problem is not just mental. This team suffered from similar problems last season, and we have to find a solution."

Collective failings were not his only target. The Portuguese coach aimed a direct message at his players, holding up defender Strahinja Pavlovic as a model of diligence and commitment in training.

"We were not ready, and we lacked courage," he said. "When we do not win, we have to give our utmost to change the situation, and that is what we did not do. Everyone must train like Pavlovic, as he is ready to give everything he has in training, and he sets an example to be followed."

Benching some players, he concluded, was no excuse for the slump. "Sometimes players face difficulties when they are not part of the starting line-up, but there is no room for excuses. We should have won even with the players who started the match."

The defeat leaves Milan in deep trouble. They have slipped to 28th on three points, according to the standings stated in the report, with three defeats in four matches and a single victory, a 4-0 thrashing of Austria's Salzburg.

The Italian side opened with a 2-0 loss to Portugal's Benfica, then went down 3-0 to England's Bournemouth, before the Salzburg win restored a little confidence. This latest defeat has revived the doubts over their ability to compete in Europe.

Ferencvaros, by contrast, kept rolling. A fourth straight win took them to 12 points and second place, level with leaders Bournemouth but behind on goal difference.

So the glorious derby win has gone from springboard to distant memory. The European collapse has exposed deeper flaws, and Amorim must fix them fast before the crisis spirals.