Christian Pulisic needed just 2 minutes and 47 seconds to make his statement in the Champions League.
He opened the opening day of the world’s most important club competition with a stunning goal, putting AC Milan ahead of Liverpool.
The English visitors eventually came back, dominated the match and won deservedly 3-1, but Pulisic still shone on a great night for the Americans in Europe.
Pulisic, once a teenage phenomenon, spent his early 20s in a near-toxic environment at Chelsea. He should have been rising through the ranks in his prime; instead, he found himself feverishly treading water in a bloated squad, fighting for playing time and constantly adapting to new managers.
When he played, he was often quite good, and sometimes very good. But he was inconsistent. He was a young adult still trying to find himself, on the field and in this world. At times, the arc of his career seemed to stall. His development, it seemed, had stalled.
Last summer, however, he escaped the chaos and malaise at Chelsea. He landed in Milan and almost immediately proved himself a victim of circumstance rather than developmental stagnation. He quickly won over the Italian fans — and teammates and coaches — with clutch goals and dogged work. He strung together a season of consistency.
He finished with 12 goals and 8 assists in Serie A, both personal highs; and 15 goals, 10 assists in total. He was named to the Italian League Team of the Season. At the same time, he also became the leader of the U.S. men’s national team and its most reliable player.
The only remaining questions related to his underlying numbers: Had Pulisic perhaps ridden a hot but unsustainable streak of finishes into his breakthrough season? Were his expected goals and expected assists—which not Career Highlights — Signs That Regression Was Coming?
In his second year at AC Milan, Pulisic has already begun to answer those questions, having scored two goals — albeit a penalty and a tap-in — and provided two assists in four Serie A games.
And in his 2024-25 Champions League debut, he showed the breadth of his skills. He picked up the ball in transition. He carried it some 40 yards, and fired into space. He fired it past Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, through a narrow window, and into the far net.
And he added to the evidence that he is, in fact, a star at the highest level of football. According to Opta, no player has contributed more goals for a Serie A team than Pulisic’s 30 since his arrival last summer.
30 – Christian Pulisic’s third-minute goal on Tuesday was his 30th in all competitions for Milan (18 goals, 12 assists).
No player has scored more goals for a Serie A team than Pulisic since joining Milan at the start of last season. At home. photo.twitter.com/kiCHJzryFl
— OptaJack⚽️ (@OptaJack) September 17, 2024
Other Champions League Results, USMNT Players
Pulisic wasn’t the only American in action Tuesday. Earlier in the day, 80 miles west of Milan in Turin, Weston McKennie scored for Juventus.
According to statistician Paul Carr, it is the first time that two US national team players have scored on the same day in the Champions League.
And that Juventus-PSV Eindhoven match, which Juve won 3-1, featured five American players (McKennie, Tim Weah, Malik Tillman, Richy Ledezma, Ricardo Pepi), the most ever in a single Champions League match.
Elsewhere in the competition, Aston Villa won their first modern Champions League match 3-0 against BSC Young Boys in Bern, Switzerland.
Bayern Munich defeated Dinamo Zagreb 9-2.
Sporting Clube de Portugal defeated Lille 2-0.
And Real Madrid, after struggling against Stuttgart, won 3-1, meaning the favourites won all six of Tuesday’s games.
