Seeing Rui Costa and Jose Altafini at the San Siro were just painful reminders of what Milan used to be. And then the match happened. This club could not be further from its European history at this point. An American owner who did not even know about its European history, who purged management this summer of anyone who knew anything about football, and insisted (once again,) on bringing in a foreign manager. That foreign manager, of course, played for Benfica, so he must be feeling a special kind of pain after Milan suffered a humiliating 2-0 loss to Benfica at San Siro. Except it was his choices that derailed te team in the first place, and I'm not entirely convinced he understands what Milan DNA is, either. This club has become completely bankrupt of all European DNA.
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| Even the best players struggle to win in Europe because Milan no longer has European DNA. |
If you don't know who Jose Altafini is, you should do some reading. Not only is he Milan's 4th highest goalscorer of all time he was part of the team who won our first European Champion Cup in 1963. Against Benfica. So he was honored ahead of the match at San Siro along with Rui Costa, who won the 2003 Champions League while at Milan (along with a number of other trophies,) but now serves as the President of Benfica. And I think they were the only Milan European DNA at the stadium on Wednesday.
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| He helped lift Milan's first European Cup. Google him. |
Pavlović lived very dangerously for 80 plus minutes after earning a very early card for fouling Kamiński in just the 11th minute. It did not take Benfica long to make their intentions known, after just having one shot saved, Lukébakio scored in the 16th minute. 1-0 Benfica. This was not at all the kind of match Milan wanted to play. In the 24th minute, Šudakov hit the post, as well, another big scare.
Benfica then started chalking up what would end up being five yellow cards to Milan's singular card, if that tells you what kind of match they played. And then it happened. Filippo Terracciano took a shot that was deflected, yet still was a shot on goal. One of only four for Milan. While he did not play poorly in this match, we have better players who could have possibly made a difference, and I have made it very clear that I do not trust him. And I am not alone. A journalist made an astute observation regarding Amorim's lineups: "If you've reinstated Tomori and you're playing Terracciano, there's a problem with your evaluation of your squad."
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| Does Filippo Terracciano even belong at Milan? |
Alphadjo Cissé had a shot blocked, then Kamiński barely cleared the ball just before Chukwueze was going in for the kill. Ramos had a shot off target, and a Benfica player body slammed Cissè, but no card for that one. I'm very impressed with Cissè's physicality, both for his age and his size, he is fearless and muscles players off the ball who are much bigger than him.
In the 37th minute, Durán rightfully received a yellow card for throwing an elbow into De Winter's face. However, Benfica must have felt slighted when, 10 minutes later, Kamiński was elbowed in the face, but no card was given for that foul. To be fair, though, Pavlović was shoved in the back while in the air in the penalty area, which is very dangerous play and really should have been a card and a penalty, but it was not given, either. The first half ended with Jashari, Hutchinson, and Cissè all taking chances, but to no avail.
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| If Pulisic has been so impactful, why is he not starting? |
Since, once again, Amorim had made very poor choices in his starting 11, he began his redemption substitutions at the half. Pulisic replaced Hutchinson and Gila replaced Terracciano. Both sides traded shots off target, then came the nail in the coffin, a goal from Kamiński that put Benfica up 2-0. So Amorim's response was more subs. Moreira replaced Cissè, and Saelemaekers replaced Bartesaghi.
Musah had a shot that was wide, then Ramos had a chance where he was 1v1, but Trubin saved the shot. Trubin also grabbed Pulisic's shot. Moreira took a shot/cross in the 62, and as Ramos was running in on goal, he accidentally kneed the Benfica goalkeeper in the face, which required some treatment afterward. Then Moreira took another shot, but it was wide.
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| Pavlovic lived dangerously on a yellow for most of the match. |
In the 73rd minute, Amorim made his final sub, Rabiot replaced Jashari, and the French midfielder immediately tried to make an impact with a shot that went wide. Then he was the recipient of Banjaqui's high kick, which obviously earned the Benfica player a yellow card. Pulisic had one of Milan's best chances in the 81st minute, but Trubin saved it well. Ramos again fired wide, and Maignan made yet another save on Lukébakio.
As had happened a couple of times earlier in the match, Pavlidis hit Pavlović in the face, and both the referee and VAR ignored it. In stoppage time, Pavlović had the last shot, a header that went wide. At the final whistle, it was still a humiliating 2-0 for the visitors, and the home fans whistled their Milan players to make sure they knew it. Amorim had managed to do something no Milan manager had ever done before: lose to Benfica in a Eureopean match. Not what you want to be known for, especially against your former club.
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| Terrible choices? Absolutely. All his fault? Absolutely not. |
This was part of a disturbing trend which began with Allegri's Milan last season, it was Milan's fourth home loss in six matches, and they had conceded at least two goals in each match they lost. But the focus was on Amorim. His experimental starting 11 choices had gone from two changes to three then four, and now five changes to start off this match. And, as a foreign manager in Italy who had suffered his first loss in five matches, obviously, everyone gave Amorim hell for it.
Going into this match, I had pointed out that Rui Costa had more Milan DNA than our whole club right now, and this match kind of proved my point. People wanted to blame Amorim for the loss, and certainly, his lineup choices and then required substitutions did not help matters. But his squad that he has been given varies so greatly in quality, and is not a well built team by any means. Plus, Gerald Cardinale has worked hard to "change the culture" (of a winnning club, mind you,) which has thus left Milan bankrupt of European DNA.
Sunday, September 20 • 11:00 CEST (5 am EDT)
This match is not being televised in the U.S.
Villa Valle vs. Milan Futuro
Sunday, September 20 • 15:00 CEST (9am EDT)
Sunday, September 20 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)
Reviewed by Elaine
on
Rating:
