Tuttosport: A ‘different story with the starters’ – how Milan’s win in Genoa proved Amorim right

By: Oliver Fisher

Everyone expected a reaction from AC Milan after their disappointing Europa League defeat to Ferencvaros, and one arrived.

As Tuttosport (via MilanNews) write this morning, Milan did redeem themselves after their dreadful display on Thursday against the Hungarians. It wasn’t an easy match for the Rossoneri, who struggled heavily towards the end and even nearly conceded an equaliser, but they got over the line.

The three golden points not only allows the team to have a bit more of a peaceful international break but it also means that a spot inside the top four has been reclaimed, with Champions League qualification the major objective for 2026-27.

As the paper points out, one thing is quite clear from yesterday’s match: with the ‘starters’ on the pitch, it’s a completely different Milan which displays quality and an identity. It is equally clear that Ruben Amorim was right a few days ago when he declared that with this squad, the Devils can compete for only one competition and not two.

When the Portuguese coach was ‘forced’ to field second string players to manage energy levels, aside from the win against RB Salzburg they suffered only defeats. The difference between starters and alternatives is evident, and is also evidenced by the fact that yesterday the Milan team struggled towards the end when Amorim was forced to make some substitutions.

After the match, the head coach was once again asked about the topic of effective rotation, addressing the differences in Milan’s performance between Serie A and the Europa League.

“Rotation is necessary for us. Clearly, it was a bad match on Thursday for the players we have: I think it’s a mentality issue, and we have to address it,” he said.

“The only way I know is to work, train with the players, explain, show videos, because there were some things so obvious that I don’t need to explain. I’ll just show some clips of the match and they’ll understand.

“I’m satisfied with the evolution we’re having. We’re completely changing our way of playing. We have more ball possession. We control games with the ball more. I think we’ve had some moments during these matches, really good moments with a good culture. I think we’re far from the end.

“I think we lack time in the final third of the pitch. We control the ball away from the opponent’s area. This is also a key point for Goncalo Ramos to have more clear-cut chances. It’s clearly not Goncalo’s fault. Pulisic is away from the area. Gonçalo is far from the penalty area.

“All these players play far from the penalty area, so I can say we’re still far from the final product, because we’re still working on good progression, but then in the final third of the pitch we waste a lot of time with the ball there.”

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