BOURNEMOUTH, England -- Bournemouth never wanted this night to end. Ruben Amorim, however, would be happy to forget this evening on the south coast ever happened.
Amorim would have privately hoped to prove a point on his return to England 10 months after getting sacked by Manchester United. But with a few minutes left, he heard the whole ground sing: "Ruben Amorim it's happening again."
He gave the crowd a smile. But this was a dismal return for him, complete with a south coast welcome of swirling wind and torrential rain.
Bournemouth fans were left celebrating a famous win, the 3-0 margin not remotely flattering. The game was over after 27 minutes. As the referee tried to defuse the fracas which followed AC Milan's keeper Mike Maignan being shown a red card for shoving Tyler Adams in the face, Amorim paced to and fro in the dugout.
He looked like a man awaiting an inevitable fate. He'd been here before, in a previous life, with a different club. He was drenched; he looked dejected; his team were capitulating.
As the referee tried to get a hold on the situation, he continued pacing, checking his stride sometimes, briefly looking up, only to shake his head. All the while around Amorim, Bournemouth's fans soaked in every moment of this historic night, loving watching their team giving their illustrious visitors a thorough going over.
Moments later Marcus Tavernier comfortably stroked home the penalty to make it 2-0. By full time he'd taken a seat on the bench. He'd changed his shoes at half time, but that hadn't done anything to alter his team's fortunes.
Amorim was surely sick of the sight of England, complete with unavoidable echoes of his previous life as he watched on morose while his team underperformed and were swallowed up by the claustrophobic brilliance of this Bournemouth team and their compact ground.
It's taken Bournemouth 127 years to get to Europe and for so long this looked an impossible dream, but they look right at home on Thursday evening.
When Bournemouth changed their shirt colour from red tops and white shorts to their red and black stripes in the early 1970s, they'd taken inspiration from Milan. Then-manager John Bond wanted to capture some of the Rossoneri's magic with Nereo Rocco's teams winning two European Cups in the 1960s.
This was a match-up decades in the waiting and one which seemed fanciful when Bournemouth were in League 2 in 2008, but on a night where the rain and wind whipped this part of the country into a frenzy, it was the team wearing their red and black stripes who shattered Amorim's Milan.
As the teams prepared to walk out at the Vitality Stadium, the announcer opened with "Well, how did we end up here?" The Steve Fletcher stand roared their approval and held up a tifo with the same phrase.
The club's legends in the stands probably caught a laugh in their throat -- it wasn't that long ago this team was scrapping to keep its place in the football league. But Bournemouth are self-assured enough and confident in the momentum they've built here to know they deserved to stand on the same stage as their visitors, complete with their seven European Cup/Champions League titles.
Bournemouth flew out of the blocks with the pace of Tavernier, Justin Kluivert and Ben Gannon-Doak wrecking havoc in the Milan defence.
The two teams ran out in the south coast tempest against contrasting seasons. Bournemouth have one win from seven in the Premier League under Marco Rose, who replaced Andoni Iraola in the summer. But in Europe they were already two wins from two as they welcomed Milan.
This is Amorim's first job since leaving United back in January. He's seen a summer of upheaval with several stars leaving and recruitments added right to the last minute of the window, but he's already shown different traits to his United tenure: he's shown more tactical flexibility and they are undefeated in Serie A, sitting fourth.
He also has more of a philosophical take on the perils of management.
"There are different situations in life," Amorim said of life after Manchester United on Wednesday. "I am better now. I've made my peace with the last adventure and I'm really excited for the new one. I am really grateful for everything that happened -- it brought me here." Maybe that excitement had abated by about the seventh minute of the match.
Amorim made six changes from the team that beat Atalanta 3-2 at the weekend, but this Milan team never really arrived. Their ultras in the corner of the east stand had arrived earlier in the day, all dressed in black, taking in the quiet sea front. But while they brought passion and song, their team failed to match it.
Milan looked lifeless and sloppy.
Bournemouth, in turn, were exceptional. Rose made four changes from the team that secured their first league win of the season on Saturday -- a 2-0 triumph over Sunderland. And they carried that momentum into this match under the lights. In the seventh minute, VAR intervened for a handball from Koni De Winter off an Evanilson header.
Transfer rumors, news: Are Liverpool the favorite to sign Bournemouth's Scott?
Kluivert tapped home the penalty. Bournemouth continued to press away, crafting chances, judging the slippery conditions well as the ball skipped off the sodden turf, but in the 27th minute the match was effectively over as a contest. As a corner floated over into the Milan box, Maignan shoved Adams in the face. Maignan was sent off and after a flurry of confusion and emotion, Tavernier made it 2-0 from the spot five minutes later.
Christian Pulisic and Luka Modric stayed on Milan's bench, as Bournemouth continued in much the same way in the second half. Álvaro Rodrigues started flicking the ball nonchalantly, and Bournemouth just ran and ran.
Fikayo Tomori could've seen red as he hauled down Lewis Cook when clean through, but was instead shown a yellow. Milan mustered nothing, Amorim was soaked through. Bournemouth's perfect night was given extra gloss when Amine Adli slotted home a brilliant free kick in the 84th minute. A night for the ages.
At full time, the two benches clashed as Bournemouth celebrated. Some of Milan's players had finally showed some signs of fight.
Amorim's next task is to pick his team up for the trip to Udinese on Sunday. Bournemouth's? Well it's to Old Trafford, having given one former Manchester United manager a lesson.
Now to see if they can pour further pressure on his former paymasters. But tonight, it is about enjoying this moment. Fans turned to one another with smiles stretched across their sodden faces.
One just shouted: "Bournemouth 3-0 AC Milan" and flung his arms up into the air. And it was fully deserved. There as a dominant team wearing red and black stripes tonight, and it was Bournemouth.