Seven-time European champions Milan had won two and drawn two of their opening four Serie A games, but were given a reality check by Benfica on the opening day of the Europa League league phase. Milan were profligate in front of goal and were made to pay by the visitors, who maintained their unbeaten start to the season. AC Milan slipped to their first defeat under Ruben Amorim with a 2-0 home loss to Benfica as the Europa League got under way on Wednesday, while Sunderland won on their return to Europe after a 53-year absence.
Benfica, who lost to Milan in the 1963 and 1990 European Cup finals, were able to enjoy their first-ever win over the Italian giants.
“I change all the time, we need to start with a base, we have two months of work,” Amorim, who said before the game that he does not “know if I’ll have the time needed”, told Sky Sport Italia when asked if he would change tactics.
Marco Silva’s side grabbed a 16th-minute lead through a superb individual goal from Dodi Lukebakio, as the Belgian cut inside from the right and unleashed a left-footed drive into the far bottom corner. The Frenchman, who had a penalty saved by David Raya in Saturday’s Premier League loss to Arsenal, stepped up to slot the spot-kick into the corner. Regis Le Bris’s Sunderland clinched a 1-0 victory over AZ Alkmaar at a raucous Stadium of Light in their first European match since the Cup Winners’ Cup second round in 1973. Lyon put some of the disappointment of their dramatic Champions League play-off loss to Fenerbahce behind them with a 2-1 victory at Anderlecht.
