The US player pool has never been more prominent in Europe’s top soccer leagues and two of its key players scored on the opening night of the continent’s top competition on Tuesday.
Christian Pulisic scored an early goal to launch AC Milan’s UEFA Champions League campaign.
However, that strike, less than three minutes in, was the last thing he had to smile about as Milan went on to lose 3-1 at home to Liverpool in their opening match in the revamped competition.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Pulisic’s performance this season is as good as his team’s is bad.
Milan have won just one of their five matches this season under new coach Paulo Fonseca. Pulisic, who turned 26 yesterday, has three goals in that same period with two assists.
“It’s another bad result for us, we have to find answers, improve and win matches,” Pulisic said after the loss to Liverpool. “We had the right energy at times, but we couldn’t keep it up consistently ... it’s been a difficult start to the season for us, we’re not happy and we have to change things.”
Photo: AP
Pulisic was not the only American to find the back of the net on Tuesday. And it was a happier night for US teammate Weston McKennie, who scored Juventus’ second during a 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven in an earlier match.
Three other Americans also featured on the opening day of the revamped Champions League, with Ricardo Pepi, Malik Tillman and Richie Ledezma playing for PSV.
More of their compatriots — such as Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna and injured Juventus forward Tim Weah — could feature later this week or further on in the competition.
Photo: EPA-EFE
With so many players competing at club soccer’s highest level, that can only be good news for new US coach Mauricio Pochettino as the US ramps up for a home World Cup in 2026.
Pulisic was the first American to play in a Champions League final when he won the competition with Chelsea in 2021.
He moved to Milan before the start of last season and had an impressive debut campaign at the Italian team, with 15 goals across all competitions.
That made Pulisic the first midfielder to score more than 10 goals for Milan — excluding penalties — since Kaka in the 2005-2006 season.
Kaka was at the San Siro for Tuesday’s match and gave a short speech to the Rossoneri fans before kickoff. The former Brazil international — and FIFA World Cup winner — spent six seasons at Milan, helping them to their most recent Champions League title in 2007.
Pulisic has made a flying start to the current season, too, with two goals and two assists in Milan’s four opening Serie A matches.
He would need to continue that streak to help Milan reinvigorate their campaign, with another key match in just five days: the city derby against fierce rival — and defending Serie A champions — Inter.
“It’s a huge game for us and we have to give everything, fight and turn things around,” Pulisic said.
Meanwhile, Harry Kane broke Wayne Rooney’s record for the most Champions League goals by an English player when the Bayern Munich striker scored four times against Dinamo Zagreb.
It was one of several records broken as Bayern routed Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 in one of the highest-scoring games in Champions League history — and an emphatic start to European competition for new coach Vincent Kompany.
“Amazing game, a bit of a crazy game for sure,” Kane told broadcaster DAZN. “To score all those goals in the end was a great night.”
Kane took his tally to 33 in the competition by scoring in the 19th, 53rd, 73rd and 78th minutes — three of the goals were penalties — to surpass Rooney’s record of 30.
“After the second [penalty] I didn’t really know what to do with the third one, but thankfully I was able to put it away,” Kane said.
Four other Bayern players scored in the emphatic win and there were two goals for new signing Michael Olise on his Champions League debut after signing from Crystal Palace.
Leon Goretzka’s header in stoppage-time made Bayern the first team to score nine goals in the Champions League era.
It was the highest-scoring game in the competition in terms of total goals since Borussia Dortmund beat Legia Warsaw 8-4 in 2016, UEFA said.
In other games, Aston Villa beat Young Boys 3-0, Real Madrid defeated VfB Stuttgart 3-1 and Sporting downed OSC Lille 2-0.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS