Milan v Ferencváros team news: Maignan out, Yusuf leads line
AC Milan face Ferencváros at San Siro on Thursday 5 November 2026 at 18:45 WAT (17:45 GMT) in matchday four of the Europa League league phase, without suspended goalkeeper Mike Maignan and Nigeria winger Samuel Chukwueze. Nigerian forward Bamidele Yusuf, the Hungarian champions' second-highest scorer this season with nine goals, is expected to lead their attack.
By Emily · · Updated
Who is missing for AC Milan against Ferencváros?
The AC Milan match preview lists Alexis Saelemaekers, Matteo Gabbia, Fikayo Tomori, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Pietro Terracciano as long-term absentees, along with Chukwueze, who the club says "recently underwent surgery". Maignan is suspended after his red card against Bournemouth, so goalkeeper Lorenzo Torriani is likely to make his first start. Football Italia also lists defender Strahinja Pavlović among the injured. The club preview does not name him, and Koni De Winter talked warmly about playing alongside "Pavlo" on Wednesday, so treat Pavlović as a doubt until the team sheet is out.
What did Amorim say before the game?
At Milanello on Wednesday, Rúben Amorim told the AC Milan press conference: "The Derby is in the past, now we have to focus on the Europa League." He was blunt about the table: "We have three points in the competition and tomorrow we absolutely have to win." Amorim also explained why changes are coming: "Sometimes if you don't let players rest they can pick up injuries. So we need to rotate the squad." On the visitors he said they are "coming to San Siro with nothing to lose, so the responsibility is on us," and he singled out centre-back Diawara, back after a long spell out: "He's quick, strong and has great potential to improve."
De Winter, who sat alongside his coach, said: "We'll give everything to keep a clean sheet and beat them. We know it won't be easy."
What is Milan's likely line-up?
Football Italia, citing Sky and Gazzetta, expects Milan to set up 4-4-1-1 with Torriani in goal, a back four of Terracciano, De Winter, Diawara and Bartesaghi, and Hutchinson, Jashari, Yunus Musah and Alphadjo Cisse across midfield. Adrien Rabiot is expected to play behind Gonçalo Ramos. The same report says Mario Gila, Luka Modrić, Christian Pulisic and Diego Moreira are available from the bench. This is a probable XI, not a confirmed one.
What is Ferencváros's team news?
Coach Balázs Borbély told his pre-match press conference that his squad is in good shape. "Fortunately we are in quite good shape, we have minor injuries; only Krisztián Lisztes did not travel with us," he said, in comments published by Fradi.hu, the Ferencváros club site (TuSport translation from Hungarian). Football Italia expects a 4-2-3-1 with Dibusz in goal, Ádám Nagy and Madarász in the double pivot, Zachariassen behind the front man and Yusuf up front.
The Milan preview describes Ferencváros as 36-time Hungarian champions arriving on four straight wins and 20 games unbeaten. Borbély took charge this season. Zachariassen is their top scorer with 11 goals; the Milan preview names "Nigerian forward Yusuf" next with nine.
What did Bamidele Yusuf say?
Yusuf joined his coach at the pre-match press conference after Amorim had singled him out at Milan's own press conference, Fradi.hu reported. "I thank God, because it is every player's dream to play in a stadium like this. This is a huge step in my life," Yusuf said (TuSport translation). "It is very good to hear a coach like Amorim mention my name." He added that wherever he plays, he always tries to give his team-mates 100 per cent.
Borbély, whose biggest role model is Carlo Ancelotti, said the home side would see more of the ball and that his players must stay disciplined without it. Asked which Milan player he would take, he answered: "Luka Modrić."
What do the numbers say?
Milan have three points from three games after one win and two defeats; Ferencváros have nine. The Milan preview notes that the Rossoneri's only previous meetings with Hungarian opposition were against Győri ETO in the 1967/68 Cup Winners' Cup last 16, which ended 2-2 and 1-1. Cisse, born in October 2006, has scored the only hat-trick of this Europa League season, and no player has scored more goals in the competition. Swiss referee Urs Schnyder takes charge, with Lukas Fähndrich on VAR.
TuSport desk: the Nigerian thread and the selection gap
Put the two camps side by side and the contrast is stark. Milan's own preview names six injured players plus the suspended Maignan, seven men unavailable, and Football Italia's list adds Pavlović to make eight. Borbély says only Lisztes stayed in Budapest. That is why Amorim keeps stressing rotation and humility rather than talking up his starting XI: he is picking from a thin group straight after a derby win over Inter, against a side that has won all three of its league-phase games.
The Nigerian thread runs through both squads. Chukwueze, Milan's Nigeria international, is in the surgery group and will not feature. Yusuf, on the other side, is expected to start up front. His nine goals plus Zachariassen's 11 make 20 between Ferencváros's two leading scorers this season, by the Milan club's own count. A forward who leads the line in a 4-2-3-1 at San Siro, with a goalkeeper making his first start behind Milan's defence, is the matchup we will be watching most closely. On our reading, the first 20 minutes will show whether Ferencváros can turn the pressure Amorim talked about into chances.
For fans in Nigeria, kick-off is 18:45 WAT in the early wave of Thursday's Europa League games; the late games, including AZ Alkmaar v Juventus, start at 21:00 WAT.
Why it matters
A home defeat would leave Milan on three points after four games, with half of the league phase gone. A win would lift them to six points. For Ferencváros, a fourth straight win would take them to 12. Follow the AC Milan, Serie A and Nigeria hubs and the WAT kick-off times guide. Read our earlier reports on Maduka Okoye's penalty save for Udinese against Parma and Sunday Oliseh's verdict on the Super Eagles.
Who will win?
AC Milan v Ferencváros · Thu 05 Nov, 18:45 WAT · San Siro (Stadio Giuseppe Meazza), Milan
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Sources: AC Milan — AC MILAN vs. FERENCVÁROS: MATCH PREVIEW · AC Milan — AMORIM: "A GAME WE HAVE TO WIN WITH THE RIGHT APPROACH" · Football Italia — Europa League: Milan vs. Ferencvaros – probable line-ups, where to watch on TV · Fradi.hu — Kristoffer Zachariassen: „Álom a San Siróban játszani”
