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Ruben Amorim had an unwelcome return to England with Milan(Image: Michael Steele, Getty Images)
Ruben Amorim was brutally reminded of his year in charge of Manchester United after Bournemouth beat his new club Milan in the Europa League.
After going 1-0 down inside eight minutes to a Justin Kluivert penalty at the Vitality Stadium, Milan had goalkeeper Mike Maignan sent off. In response, Amorim appeared to try and substitute on another goalkeeper without withdrawing one of his outfield players.
Ultimately, the former Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest winger Omari Hutchinson was sacrificed for Lorenzo Torriani. Five minutes after the sending-off, Marcus Tavernier converted the subsequent spot-kick, with Amine Adli adding a third late on.
Bournemouth supporters were eager to remind the Milan coach of his previous encounters with the Cherries as the match neared its conclusion. The crowd chanted: "Ruben Amorim, it's happened again!"
He 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.
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.
Ruben Amorim endured another night to forget against Bournemouth(Image: Alex Pantling - UEFA, UEFA via Getty Images)
"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 continued to labour the point, reiterating: "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 then 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."
However, 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.