Squad Analysis · AC Milan
Keep Milan's Jobs Clearer Than Its Pecking Order
Alphadjo Cissè scored on his first Serie A start, while 56th-minute substitute Adrien Rabiot supplied a goal and assist as Milan beat Torino 2-1 in Rúben Amorim's debut.
The first problem was role clarity
Rúben Amorim's first official Milan lineup gave 19-year-old Alphadjo Cissè a starting role behind Gonçalo Ramos and left Adrien Rabiot on the bench. By the 66th minute, both had scored and Milan led Torino 2-0. That sequence was not a contradiction. It was the clearest evidence that the new coach sees selection as a set of jobs rather than a ranking of famous names.
Cissè supplied the movement and risk needed to loosen Torino's 3-4-2-1. Rabiot, introduced in the 56th minute for Ruben Loftus-Cheek, supplied a different weight to the same area. He assisted Cissè's 64th-minute goal and scored two minutes later. The younger player opened the match; the veteran substitute changed its ownership.
Two minutes cannot certify a system
The counterargument is sitting in the scoreline. Milan's two goals arrived in a two-minute burst, Torino substitute Che Adams scored in stoppage time, and the match ended 2-1. A narrow opening-day win cannot prove that every role in Amorim's 3-4-2-1 is settled. It certainly cannot erase the continuity problems visible during the summer.
Correct. The result offers a useful decision audit, not a tactical canon. Cissè's start worked. Rabiot's introduction worked. Adams' stoppage-time reply also ensured the final minutes were spent defending a margin that had briefly looked secure. The late concession keeps the verdict conditional.
Cissè started before the romance
The official numbers make the occasion easy to romanticise. At 19 years and 305 days, Cissè became Milan's youngest Italian scorer in Serie A since Patrick Cutrone in 2017. He was also the first Italian to score on his first league start for the club since Daniel Maldini in 2021. Nice records. The more important fact is that Amorim trusted him before the match became comfortable.
That trust defined the role. Cissè did not receive ceremonial minutes after senior players settled the result. He worked in one of the two attacking positions beneath Ramos while Samuel Chukwueze provided width from wing-back. Milan asked youth to help create the advantage, not merely decorate it. Clubs often call that pathway planning; starting away at Torino is the part where the brochure has to put on boots.
Rabiot entered as force
Rabiot's entrance was equally specific. Milan had spent the summer learning Amorim's higher pressure and quicker vertical play, but Gazzetta dello Sport noted that the intensity had faded inside preseason matches and old buildup errors remained. Torino kept the opener level long enough for those doubts to become relevant. Amorim responded by changing the player between midfield and attack, not by abandoning the shape.
The reward came quickly. Rabiot's assist and goal turned a difficult away debut into a lead with separation. It was the fourth Serie A match in which he has combined a goal and an assist, all four away from home. Amorim also replaced Ardon Jashari with Luka Modrić at the same moment, changing the passer beneath Rabiot as well as the runner ahead of him. That does not make Rabiot a universal super-sub. It makes his physical carrying and late arrival a credible lever when Milan's starting pattern needs more force.
Chukwueze completes the audit
Samuel Chukwueze has now assisted three goals across his past four Serie A appearances after the same total in the previous 25. The sequence adds evidence that the wing-back assignment can create value.
That evidence belongs beside the Cissè and Rabiot choices because role clarity is useful only when it extends beyond the two scorers.
Venezia should receive another assignment
Milan's next league match is at home to Venezia on August 28. The temptation will be to reward the Torino win by freezing its finishers into a supposedly best eleven. That would misunderstand why the changes worked.
Keep Cissè eligible to start when his movement can disturb a set back line. Keep Rabiot available as a starter or as the heavier second-half lever, depending on the match. Then measure whether the pressure and vertical passing survive for longer than one decisive burst. Amorim's debut gave Milan two answers because he assigned two different jobs. The squad becomes expensive clutter again the moment reputation replaces that distinction.
2026-2027 season
Serie A standings
| # | Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | Pts | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Inter Milan |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +3 | 3 | W |
| 2 |  Napoli |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 3 | W |
| 3 |  Lecce |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 3 | W |
| 4 |  AC Milan |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 | W |
| 5 |  Atalanta |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 | W |
| 6 |  Juventus |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 | W |
| 7 |  Cagliari |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 | W |
| 8 |  Como |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | D |
| 9 |  Udinese |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | D |
| 10 |  Roma |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 |  Bologna |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 12 |  Lazio |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 13 |  Fiorentina |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 14 |  Sassuolo |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | L |
| 15 |  Torino |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | L |
| 16 |  Parma |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | L |
| 17 |  Frosinone |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | L |
| 18 |  Genoa |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | L |
| 19 |  Venezia |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | L |
| 20 |  Monza |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 0 | L |
