Ruben Amorim doesn’t believe in minimum targets at a club the size of Milan. On the eve of the Rossoneri’s Europa League opener against Benfica, the Portuguese head coach insisted that anything short of a win counts as failure, whoever the opponent, as his side launch their (2026-2027) campaign.
Amorim reflected on that first fixture in a press conference relayed by “Football Italia“: “It’s a big opportunity and our first match, and it’s a historic clash against Benfica at a strong European level. Rui Costa will be there and he is one of Milan’s legends, and I also played previously for Benfica, but the most important thing is that it’s our first match in this competition.”
Plenty have already installed Milan among the favourites this season. The Portuguese coach played that down: “We are in the competition and we want to win it. It’s difficult to look at the competition and state with certainty whether we are the standout favourite or not, there are many big teams and several of them have the chance to reach the final.”
“What I know is that to reach the final and compete in the league, we need a strong squad, and with a strong squad there will be constant rotation, so everyone must be ready,” he added. “If we avoid injuries and all the players stay at the highest levels of focus until the end of the season, then we can win any match, and so I say our clear goal is to try to win this competition.”
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Portuguese journalists pressed him on whether he had come close to returning to Benfica before signing for Milan. Amorim revealed: “I would not have returned to coaching in Portugal. My decision was to stop and dedicate myself to my family for a year, a promise I made to myself 4 years ago. It was very clear to me, until I received a call from Milan. I spoke with the owners and they convinced me to return sooner than I expected. I would not have returned to work in Portugal, and Milan’s offer came, and I believe no other offer would have brought me back to coaching because I was determined to take a break and I needed it, but Milan’s emergence settled my decision.”
He returned to his rejection of any minimum level of ambition inside the red and black fortress. “For the big clubs, and Milan is a big club, there are no minimum targets,” he explained. “Whatever the result, if you don’t win, you will be here to assess and criticise and say that this isn’t enough, and this is my experience in Portugal too. If you don’t reach the final or win the title, it is considered a failure. Everyone in Portugal says Benfica have to win the Europa League and that’s natural, either you win or you don’t.”
“If we don’t win the title, we will be considered not enough in everyone’s eyes, so I don’t want to be the coach who sets reaching the semi-final or quarter-final as a target,” he concluded. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that we have only one goal and that is to win, and anything less than that will expose us to criticism, and that is the price you pay as a coach of Milan. It’s not a matter of money because the Europa League cannot be compared to the Champions League, but it is tied to our pride and our identity.”