Ruben Amorim was brutally reminded of his year in charge of Manchester United after Bournemouth beat his new club Milan in the Europa League. The 3-0 defeat at the Vitality Stadium saw the Milan head coach subjected to taunts from the home crowd, who chanted: "Ruben Amorim, it's happened again!"
Early Penalty and Red Card
Milan fell behind inside eight minutes when Justin Kluivert converted a penalty. Soon after, goalkeeper Mike Maignan was sent off, leaving the Italian side with ten men for the majority of the match.
In response to the red card, Amorim appeared to try to substitute on another goalkeeper without withdrawing one of his outfield players. Ultimately, former Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest winger Omari Hutchinson was sacrificed for Lorenzo Torriani.
Bournemouth's Dominance
Five minutes after the sending-off, Marcus Tavernier converted a subsequent spot-kick, with Amine Adli adding a third late on to seal the victory for Bournemouth.
Bournemouth supporters were eager to remind the Milan coach of his previous encounters with the Cherries as the match neared its conclusion. Amorim faced them on two occasions while at United, failing to secure victory in either fixture. They suffered a 3-0 loss at Old Trafford in December 2024, before sharing a dramatic 4-4 draw at the same ground 12 months later.
Amorim's Reaction
Afterwards, the clearly irked Milan head coach told Sky Sport Italia: "The penalty on the corner and the red card changed everything. So it was not a game; it was not a game."
He continued: "We didn't have time to recover from the first penalty; we tried to push in the end, but the third goal made it even harder for us." Amorim reiterated: "There was no game. You cannot have a penalty in that corner, and you cannot get sent off in that situation. We cannot do that; we need to keep 11 players on the pitch."
He conceded: "We have to run a lot with one less player, try to press at the right moment in that situation, so it was a negative in all aspects tonight."
Formation and Current Standing
Despite being down to ten players, Amorim did not change from his three-at-the-back formation. Explaining that decision, he said: "First of all, they know this way of defending. They tried to push in the final minutes and not take as many risks during the central part of the game. I try to put my players in the most comfortable position and try to change the game with substitutions."
Milan are unbeaten in Serie A, albeit having drawn almost half of their seven matches, leaving them fourth. However, they are 24th in the Europa League, losing two of their three games.
