The Italian giants, seven-time champions of Europe, are unbeaten in Serie A but they were outplayed here on a pitch that hosted League Two football as recently as 2010.

Penalties in the first half from Justin Kluivert and Marcus Tavernier set the home side on their way to a famous victory, aided by an inexplicable loss of cool from Milan’s goalkeeper and captain Mike Maignan, who was red carded after 27 minutes for a foolish slap in the face of James Hill.

“A big night for us,” said Rose. “I’m happy for the club, for our fans especially. Really proud of my lads. The way they did it was brilliant from the first minute to the last. We played a really good game.

“Even with 11 against 11, we started well, we put pressure on them, won balls, created chances, got one penalty. Then the red card of course, it makes something with the game.

“But sometimes you get in trouble in these situations. On Sunday (against Sunderland) we did it well with one player more, suffocated and didn’t give anything to them. It’s really good.”

Bournemouth have looked perfectly at home on their maiden European adventure but, even so, this result, capped by a brilliant late free-kick from Amine Adli, felt almost surreal.

Ruben Amorim’s side took a hammering at the hands of a club that was relegated to the fourth tier 12 months after Milan last lifted the Champions League trophy in 2007.

“How did we end up here?” read a huge tifo unfurled in the North Stand before kick-off. Bournemouth’s display suggested they are just getting started in Europe.

“As I said yesterday, I think our club, it suits us to stay humble,” said Rose. “We know we are good if we have the whole squad. We know we can compete with everyone.

“But the season is long. We have so many games. Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday. It’s demanding. Ask me in April.”

Home supporters taunted the visiting boss with chants of “Ruben Amorim, it’s happened again”, a reference to the 3-0 defeat suffered by his Manchester United side against Bournemouth at Old Trafford in December 2024.

“It’s impossible to talk about performance,” said Amorim. “There was no game after (the red card). We need to have 11 players on the pitch to change the momentum. Today, it was not a game.

“The game had 20 minutes, nothing more than that. We killed our game.

“With 11 against 10 it’s harder to play. I don’t know how to talk about the game after that. We tried to defend in the way we are comfortable.

“I don’t talk with the players now because everything is fresh. We don’t have too much time to think about it.”