AC Milan bounced back with a bang in the Europa League, beating Salzburg by four goals to nil, and there were many positives to take from the game.

After the draw against Sassuolo, and with the defeat against Benfica in the first round still in the back of their minds, Milan knew that a win was needed against Salzburg. Luckily, everything seemed to work according to Ruben Amorim’s plan.

15 minutes was all that Milan, specifically Alphadjo Cisse, needed to break the deadlock and they didn’t look back after that. Another three goals were scored, including two more from Cisse, and the dominant display was crowned with a clean sheet.

Below are five things that we learned from the first Europa League win of the season, which has certainly put them back on track.

1. Cisse on fire

Cisse has had a very positive start to the season, including being in the starting XI for the first two games, bagging one goal in the process. He then added another off the bench against Juventus, but the return of Christian Pulisic and good displays of Alexis Saelemaekers put his role in slight limbo.

Against Salzburg, however, Amorim opted to rotate the starting eleven rather heavily and that also meant that the young Italian was back from the first minute. It would be fair to say that he made the most out of the opportunity as well.

Yesterday, he became the youngest Italian to score a hat-trick in a European competition and it was all about the positioning on the three goals. He found those spaces in between the lines and was seemingly in the right place all the time.

Amorim did mention after the game that in terms of overall performance, Cisse has actually had better games if you look at hold-up and the dribbling aspect of his game, but a hat-trick can’t be ignored. Not to mention that he scored the perfect hat-trick: first with his head, then his left foot and finally the right foot.

Promising stuff by the youngster, who will without a doubt continue to improve as he racks up more minutes and confidence. With Saelemaekers’s injury, we will probably be seeing a lot more from him.

2. Solid display at the back

The clean sheet was definitely the cherry on top of the four goals scored. While we could sit here and argue about the quality of Salzburg’s attack, we also have to acknowledge that Milan did a good job at minimising the chances for the home side.

There were a couple of errors from Ardon Jashari that could have proved costly, but Mike Maignan and his defensive teammates covered on both occasions. Yes, the mistakes shouldn’t have happened, but they also showed that the defence was switched on.

So that being said, your opponent is always going to play as much as you allow them to. Milan did really well to limit them in that sense and that was with Fikayo Tomori making his first start in defence, so the overall takeaway is definitely positive. And again, clean sheets are always important.

3. Midfield duo run the show

The standout in that double pivot was definitely Adrien Rabiot, with the Frenchman getting an assist for the third goal and hockey assists on the first and second goals.

On top of those goal-contributing moments, he dictated the tempo really well in the middle and was constantly up and down the pitch. In short, it was a really dominating performance by the midfielder, who continued his red-hot form as he also scored a rocket against Sassuolo last weekend.

Jashari was the other player in the middle and after a slow start, the Swiss international grew into the game. After a couple of mistakes early on, his passing improved a lot and he moved the ball rather well.

On top of that, he ran a lot and covered a lot of space especially when Milan were down to 10 men towards the end. His pressing also resulted in him getting an assist for the fourth goal, helping Goncalo Ramos break his goal drought.

There is still lots of room for improvement for Jashari, but this performance was a step in the right direction.

4. Camarda struggles to take his chance

The fans have been yearning to see more of Francesco Camarda, who has often remained on the bench at the start of this season. So, when he got the chance yesterday, many were hoping that he would show Amorim that he deserves more playing time.

Sadly, he was one of the weak links in the lineup. He failed to link up with his teammates, or rather he couldn’t quite control the ball when he did try to combine with them. He also lacked a lot of pace in the running duels and that resulted in him being dispossessed quite easily.

This performance probably highlights why we don’t see a lot of him in the league and it will be interesting to see if Amorim can improve the young striker, who without a doubt has the instincts in the box and good finishing.

Amorim did admit that more explosiveness and pace is needed from him and that they are working on it. Let’s see what will happen in the coming weeks, and let’s also remember that Camarda is still just 18 years old.

5. Job well done by Amorim and the youngsters 

We already mentioned that Cisse and Camarda were given the nod to start, but Amorim’s rotation didn’t stop there as we also saw Davide Bartesaghi and Omari Hutchinson in the starting eleven.

Hutchinson did really well on that right-hand side, using his skill and pace in the best way by getting an assist for the first goal. He was involved in the second too and then had a couple of dangerous shots that nearly gave him a goal of his own. A huge step in the right direction for him.

Bartesaghi also had a very solid performance, which was refreshing to see given he had a bit of an underwhelming end to last season and a shaky start this one. At just 20 years old, though, these kind of ups and downs can be understandable.

Against Salzburg, he was up and down the pitch, making some good runs and also being calm on the ball. That resulted in a good assist on the second goal for Cisse. Really positive and hopefully he can build on that, as Pervis Estupinan hasn’t exactly impressed under Amorim.

So, before we end, we need to give a shoutout to the coach who rotated heavily and relied upon his young players. He got the decisions absolutely spot on and Milan got just what they needed: a big win, good individual performances, and a confidence boost. What more can you ask for?