Month: October 2026

Starting 11: Maignan; Tomori, De Winter; Pavlovic; Hutchinson, Jashari, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Loftus-Cheek, Cisse; Camarda

Milan, with yet another changed line up, routed Salzburg in Austria. Cisse outshone Camarda and his teammates with a hattrick and Ramos, a sub, finished off the hosts.

Bartesaghi got a start to the surprise of some and so did Loftus-Cheek. but it was the 19 year old who continued his good form and on his way to becoming a good example of trusting youth. Hutchinson could also be singled out for a good performance and has pace and good potential to grow into a player suiting Amorim’s style.

Milan needed this win after the disappointment, if not embarrassment, of losing to Benfica a month earlier.

The fixtures have now started to come fast and the next few weeks are packed with both Europa League and Serie A matches.

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Milan disappointed and surprised many by succumbing on their European return and losing 2-0 at home to Benfica a month ago. Now a team seemingly not fully settled will try to get a Europa League win in Austria.

The starting 11 will look slightly different as Tomori, reintegrated after the transfer window closed, is a likely starter. The full starting lineup is mostly guesswork even hours before the match as Amorim has shown little sign of having a preferred 11. The formation itself is going under so called minor changes so the shape on the pitch might not reflect the coach’s trademark 3-4-2-1.

Danny Rohl took charge of Salzburg in the summer and has not lost a game yet. His team, however, sit second to Rapid Wien in the Austrian Bundesliga. Levski Sofia were beaten on Europa League matchday 1.

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Starting 11: Maignan; Gila, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Estupinan; Chukwueze, Musah, Rabiot, Moreira; Pulisic; Ramos

Changes to the starting 11, minor or otherwise, should yield results. A team rebuilt in the summer is certainly not creating too much yet. Gabbia returned with Estupinan holding on to a starting 11 spot that is still a 3-4-2-1 on paper but changes depending on the phase of play.

Gabbia didn’t last long and may be facing more time on the sidelines. De Winter looks to get more minutes as he has to start the season. Milan created some chances towards the end of the first half and did the same in early parts of the second. Rabiot found the back of the net with many hoping that that the improvement would last for the rest of the second half. It didn’t. Sassuolo scored and any progress halted for most of what remained.

Amorim often mentions of having more to do. There is certainly room for lots of the more but there is a limit to how much experimentation and tweaking that can be done within a season. The team is undefeated but ties are two dropped points that cost teams. Milan fans can certainly attest to points dropped here and there costing Champions League spots if not even more.

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Three long weeks ago Milan played their best game of the young season and beat Lecce 3-0. Three weeks of fixture filled international break. World football authorities are still expanding and increasing the number of games many players are subjected to.

It is a positive that Milan come away from this with only one injured player and this solitary setback is not directly a international break and national team duty issue. Saelemaekers’ ankle is not in good shape and the previous 2024 injury has destabilized the area so much that the Belgian requires another surgical intervention that will keep him out into 2027.

In the meanwhile Amorim seems to have tweaked his preferred formation into a kind of 4-2-3-1 or as some see 4-1-4-1. A change the coach claims is not minor. The first hints of it were positive in the Lecce match and so they seem to continue. Gila will be defacto right back in this set up with De Winter, Pavlovic and Bartesaghi at the back with Modric and Rabiot the middle tandem. Chukwueze and Moreira will be pseudo wingers with Pulisic more central behind Ramos. The latter needs more goal mouth presence and goals. his heatmap for the start of the season look too much like a midfielder. if he picks up form the momentum created in what feels like an age ago can be maintained.

Domenico Berardi and Sassuolo led by Alberto Aquilani will try to recreate past form against Milan. A midtable spot after five games hasn’t told observers too much about I Neroverdi.

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