AC Milan are set to restart their 2026-27 Serie A season at Sassuolo with their most attacking lineup yet, and Christian Pulisic is at the center of it. Ruben Amorim is expected to send out a more star-heavy side from the start after the three-week international break, with Gonçalo Ramos leading the line and Pulisic operating just behind him.
That matters because this is not a routine return from the break. Milan have spent the pause working toward a sharper front end, and La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Amorim wants a rocket restart. Ramos, the club’s most expensive signing, has scored three goals in consecutive international matches for Portugal, while Pulisic returned to scoring for the Rossoneri 266 days after his previous goal against Verona on December 28 of last year. For Milan, the hope is that those two arrive at the same time, in the same system, and turn one match into a reset.
The shape points that way. Milan switched to a 4-4-1-1 against Lecce and got positive responses, and that setup is now the clearest route into a side built around Pulisic behind Ramos, Samuel Chukwueze on one flank and Diego Moreira on the other. Moreira has only been seen from the first minute at Juventus, but he has already scored three league goals as a substitute, and Amorim has said he is more direct on the left and more involved in combinations and one-on-ones on the right. Mario Gila, the €30m defensive signing, is also part of the plan, while Mike Maignan remains in goal as captain.
The line, though, is not as simple as loading the side with names and asking them to attack. Alexis Saelemaekers is unavailable through injury, and Amorim has made it clear he does not want the attack to revolve only around Ramos. He wants more chances, more balls into the box, and a team that can keep its balance while looking more dangerous. Pulisic helps that case because he can run behind, drop deep, drift wide or combine between the lines, but Milan still have to show that the new shape works from kickoff rather than only in theory.
So the first real test of this reset is immediate. Sassuolo will tell Milan whether the most dazzling version of Amorim’s side can also be the most efficient one, and whether the club’s restart is built to last beyond one promising afternoon.
