AC Milan manager Ruben Amorim has insisted his side’s victory over former employers Manchester United was just “a normal match,” although he joked the Red Devils’ press conferences have been missing a spark ever since he left.
Amorim was dismissed by United in January after a miserable 18 months in charge. His replacement, Michael Carrick, oversaw an immediate improvement and spirits are now incredibly high at Old Trafford, even if Saturday’s 4–2 defeat to Milan came as a bit of a blow.
It was put to Amorim that Saturday’s victory must have been particularly sweet for Amorim given the identity of the opponents, but the Milan boss refused to speak ill of his former employers.
“It’s a normal match,” he insisted after the final whistle. “Since I signed with Milan, I haven’t felt anything about Manchester United.
“I’m just proud to have been at Manchester United and I still love Manchester United, but after signing with Milan, I don’t feel anything negative about anything, because I’m very happy. I’m where I should be. So I just want to continue here. I wanted to win a preseason match to give a good image to our fans.”
Amorim: ‘Do You Miss Me?’
As Amorim walked through the mixed zone after the game, he smiled and embraced BBC Sport journalist Simon Stone.
Clearly remembering the journalist, Amorim laughed as he asked whether they missed him.
“Miss your press conferences,” Stone admitted, to which Amorim responded: “More boring now!”
Amorim’s time in front of the media in England was particularly explosive, featuring a handful of memorable moments. He described his United side as the worst in club history, admitted he sometimes “hates” his players and even claimed he would rather select his goalkeeping coach over Marcus Rashford, who came off the bench for his first United appearance since being banished by Amorim nearly 20 months ago.
Carrick’s calmer, composed approach to press conferences has been widely praised by United fans and hailed as a source of inspiration for the players in what has been a sensational 2026 so far.
Carrick: ‘No Excuses for AC Milan Loss’
That cool head was on show after the game from Carrick, who vowed to make his side better before their Premier League opener against Hull City on Aug. 22.
“We’re disappointed with today,” he told MUTV. “We didn’t play well today. There’s reasons for that in some ways [but] we need to learn from it, we need to improve.
“Some of the boys were playing their first minutes. There’s different reasons anyway. No excuses, we just didn’t play very well today.
“But on the whole, we’re ready for next week. A lot of the boys will be better for the minutes. We’ve done a lot of work on the training pitch. I think the performances in the games have been pretty good. So, we’re still in good spirits going into next week.”
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