ITALY – SEPTEMBER 16: AC Milan’s Alexis Sallemaker watches the UEFA Europa League 2026/27 league stage MD1 match between AC Milan and SL Benfica at the San Siro Stadium on September 16, 2026 in Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzani/Getty Images)
Alexis Salemekkes warned Milan “there are no excuses” after their 2-0 loss to Benfica in the Europa League so they must “work harder to make sure we don’t repeat these mistakes.”
The Rossoneri lost 0-2 at home to Benfica in the Europa League opener and drew consecutive draws with Juventus and Lazio in Serie A. Now they seem to be in crisis.
This was probably their worst performance of the season so far as the team has regressed as the year has gone on.
Goals from Dodi Lukbakio and Jakub Kaminski both pointed to a very slow defense and a lack of intensity.
Salemak warns Milan
“I think we prepared well for this game, but we lacked determination and courage. Now we have to sit down with the coach to understand what went wrong and make sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes.” Salmaak told Sky Sports Italia.
Benfica replaced 9 starting lineups in this game. This is by no means a comprehensive team, but Milan once again failed to score in the first half, and they cannot always rely on substitutions to turn the tide of the game.
“A lot of teams now look at each other in the first half to see how they’re doing, but that hasn’t really worked for us in recent games,” Sallemaker noted.
“We have no excuses, we are Milan and we have to score goals. We have to work harder to make sure we don’t repeat these mistakes.”
In a bizarre statistic, all but one of Milan’s goals in their first five games have been scored within a five-minute span of 64 games.th 69 minutes awayth.
The only anomaly was an own goal by Venetian player Redouane Halhal in the 89th gameth.
Saelemaekers, meanwhile, was largely seen as the clown on the team, playing a variety of roles as a substitute, just as he is today in a top-four position.
“Work is the only thing I can say and we have to keep working together, just like I have to work hard to earn my spot back.”