AFC Bournemouth head coach Marco Rose was full of compliments for the squad of players that Milan have available ahead of their visit to the English south coast in the Europa League, but insists that the Cherries have faced bigger occasions in their past than Thursday night’s game against the Rossoneri.
Rose sat down for his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, ahead of Thursday’s visit from Ruben Amorim and Milan in the Europa League.
Milan trumped Rose’s former side RB Salzburg 4-0 away from home last week, making up for a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Benfica in the opening round of 2026-27 Europa League fixtures. Bournemouth have had a perfect start to their first ever season in Europe with back-to-back wins against Real Sociedad and Sturm Graz over the first two matchweeks.
Rose comments on Milan ahead of Europa League clash
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 18: Marco Rose, Manager of Bournemouth, celebrates at full-time following the Premier League 2026/27 match between AFC Bournemouth and Sunderland at Vitality Stadium on October 18, 2026 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
There is no denying that a visit from Milan is an enormous occasion for Bournemouth, who had been on the brink of collapse after being handed a -17 point deduction while in League Two in 2008-09.
Still, Rose believes that the crucial games while in League Two were bigger occasions than the upcoming visit of Milan.
“It’s a huge game. It’s a big game and we are looking forward to play it, but I think many years ago the club had a much bigger game after the point reduction and they needed to win the last game at home and Fletch scored a goal. Always, but it’s not about Fletch, it’s about the whole team,” said Rose during his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. (via Bournemouth Echo)
“So this is a foundation to be here, to have this kind of games, and we are looking forward to play this game. A huge club of Europe is coming here, but we feel prepared. We love to play this kind of games and now, yeah, we’re going to go for it tomorrow.”
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 15: Alvaro Rodriguez of Bournemouth celebrates scoring his team’s third goal with teammates during the UEFA Europa League 2026/27 League Phase MD2 match between AFC Bournemouth and SK Sturm Graz at Bournemouth Stadium on October 15, 2026 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Despite this game being an unimaginable fixture 15 years ago, Rose believes he has the squad ready to challenge any side in the Premier League and Europa League.
“Well, my feeling is we can compete with everyone in this league, we can compete with everyone in the Premier League. Some players getting back: Justin is back, Amin is back, Junior’s on a good way.
“If we have our whole squad, if we have competition into the squad, if we can use the squad because of the many games we have, then I feel us in a quite good spot to compete everywhere.”
This will not be the first time that Rose has gone up against Milan head coach Amorim, though.
ITALY – OCTOBER 18: Ruben Amorim, Head Coach of AC Milan, reacts during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Atalanta BC at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on October 18, 2026 in Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
He recalled: “I faced him in the Champions League when he was coach with Sporting. And yeah, it’s a good coach, top coach. And if you see AC Milan now, if you analyse them, you see a clear coaching style. A really good side. Individual quality, clear plan, good in pressing, good in counter-pressing.
“So things everyone missed maybe a little bit here during the time with Man United, but now another group, another energy. It’s a tough, tough opponent we face tomorrow.
This will be Rose’s first time facing Milan, though.
“Yeah, I played two times Inter Milan, but never AC Milan. I just had a talk with Duncan, our kit man, and we spoke about the Dutch group in AC Milan, the big time in the ’80s. Yeah, this kind of guys. So again, it’s a huge club with a lot of titles, international titles as well, Champions League. So it’s just good to have them here.
“And I love Luka Modrić as a player, as a person. I admire him. I have a deep respect for his career and looking forward to meet him tomorrow again, because we know each other from games against Real Madrid, and looking forward to see him.
ITALY – OCTOBER 18: Luka Modric of AC Milan is challenged by Charles De Ketelaere of Atalanta BC during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Atalanta BC at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on October 18, 2026 in Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
“The quality of the opponent is really, really good, really tough to play in everything, out and in possession. So it’s getting a tough game. And if we are involved, we know we want to play our intensity. We want to play forward, we want to be front-footed. Nothing changed. So it can be quite interesting, yeah.”
Rose was asked if he thinks Milan will be Bournemouth’s toughest opponents in the league phase, to which he responded: “Well, yeah, Sociedad away was tough as well, and sometimes the smaller games are much, much more difficult to play. So every game, every opponent is interesting, and tomorrow’s AC Milan, that’s what we are focused on.