AC Milan delivered a statement 4-0 away win over RB Salzburg in the Europa League on Thursday night, with 19-year-old Alphadjo Cissé scoring a stunning hat-trick to become the youngest Italian player in history to score three goals in a European match. Gonçalo Ramos added a fourth off the bench as Ruben Amorim’s rotated side secured their first Europa League win of the season.
AC Milan needed a response, and Alphadjo Cissé delivered one for the ages. The 19-year-old forward scored a sensational hat-trick as Milan thrashed RB Salzburg 4-0 away from home, bouncing back from their opening Europa League defeat to Benfica in style.
Milan Seize Control Early
Ruben Amorim made wholesale changes to his starting lineup, handing opportunities to fringe players including Francesco Camarda, Omari Hutchinson, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ardon Jashari, and Cissé himself, with only Adrien Rabiot representing the squad’s more established starters. The gamble paid off almost immediately.
Milan threatened early through a slick exchange between Davide Bartesaghi and Cissé down the left, before Hutchinson fired narrowly over from a promising position. The breakthrough arrived in the 15th minute: a lovely combination down the right saw Hutchinson find space to deliver a cross with his weaker right foot, picking out Cissé, who guided a bullet header past goalkeeper Christian Zawieschitzky and into the bottom corner.
Milan continued to press and were nearly rewarded again moments later, with a low Hutchinson effort cleared off the line by a heroic defensive block. The second goal wasn’t far behind, though. In the 32nd minute, Rabiot sprayed a pass out to Bartesaghi’s run down the left byline, and his first-time cut-back met Cissé’s run, who turned it home from close range to double Milan’s lead.
Cissé Completes a Historic Hat-Trick
Milan picked up where they left off after the break, with Bartesaghi and Rabiot continuing to combine effectively down the left. The dagger came just four minutes into the second half: after Salzburg nearly carved out a big chance of their own at the other end, Milan broke forward on the counter, with Rabiot sliding a pass into Cissé’s path for the teenager to side-foot home from close range and complete his hat-trick.
The goal needed a lengthy VAR check for a tight offside call before it was awarded — but once confirmed, it marked a genuinely historic moment. At 19 years and 358 days old, Cissé became the youngest Italian player in history to score a hat-trick in a European match, and the first Milan player to score three goals in a single European game since club legend Pippo Inzaghi did so against Deportivo La Coruña in September 2002.
Milan continued to dominate after the hat-trick was confirmed, with goalkeeper Mike Maignan even sprinting 25 yards off his line to make a crucial sliding challenge and snuff out one of Salzburg’s rare counter-attacking opportunities.
Ramos Caps the Rout
With the result well in hand, Amorim made a triple substitution on the hour mark, withdrawing Cissé, Camarda, and Rabiot for Christian Pulisic, Gonçalo Ramos, and Luka Modrić. Filippo Terracciano came on shortly after for Tomori.
Milan continued to create chances even after the changes — Hutchinson came close to his first goal for the club after being played through by Modrić, and later stood up another dangerous cross that Pulisic narrowly failed to convert.
The fourth goal arrived in the 72nd minute almost by accident. Salzburg defender Bartosz Mazurek stumbled while trying to play out from the back, allowing Jashari to intercept and lay the ball into the path of substitute Ramos, who made no mistake from close range to make it 4-0.
Salzburg’s misery was compounded late on when defender Filippo Terracciano was shown a straight red card for shoving Fabian Schmid from behind as the Austrian winger broke clear on goal — but with the result already well beyond doubt, Milan saw out the remaining minutes comfortably, even with ten men.
What It Means
The win marks Milan’s first Europa League victory of the campaign, following their opening-matchday defeat to Benfica, and comes at a crucial time after a mixed start that had seen Italian clubs struggle across two days of midweek European action. The result puts Milan firmly back in contention for the competition’s playoff places, with direct qualification for the knockout stages well within reach.
For Cissé, the performance marks a breakthrough moment on the European stage — and a statement that Amorim’s willingness to trust his fringe players had been emphatically rewarded.
