US soccer stars shone in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
A total of nine US players participated in Matchday 4 — equalling a record set on the opening day of this season’s competition.
What was perhaps once rare is now becoming the norm. Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah (AC Milan), Auston Trusty and Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Weston McKennie and Tim Weah (Juventus), Malik Tillman and Ricardo Pepi (PSV), and Cole Campbell (Borussia Dortmund) all featured in the new-look elite European competition.
Tillman in particular impressed as PSV romped to a 4-0 win against Girona. The German-born midfielder assisted for the first goal and doubled the home side’s lead in the 33rd minute. Tillman also assisted Johan Bakayogo for PSV’s third goal of the night.
However, the night belonged to Pulisic and Musah, who stunned reigning European champions Real Madrid 3-1 under the famous bright lights of the Santiago Bernabeu.
Pulisic sent in a corner for Malick Thiaw to head the visitors into a 12th-minute lead before subsequent goals from Álvaro Morata and Tijjani Reijnders ensured back-to-back wins for the Rossoneri.
The assist marked Pulisic’s first in the Champions League this season, although he has already found the back of the net twice in Milan’s 2024–25 UCL campaign.
The US men’s national team captain hailed Milan’s win over Madrid after the game, calling it a “really special night”.
“Amazing result for us,” Pulisic told CBS Sports. “I mean to come here and play is, of course, not easy [because of] their history in the Champions League.
“A tough place to come and play, so for us to put on a performance like that and win the game, obviously a really special night for us.”
“We won because the players had the courage to come here and not be afraid of anything, playing the game we wanted,” Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca told a postgame news conference.
“We prepared for a match in which we wanted to keep the ball; in the first half we did important things and in the second half we suffered more, but we deserved to win, no doubt about it.”
Milan now have six points and sit 18th after four of their eight games while Madrid are 17th, also with six points from four games.
The 15-time European Cup winners stared down the barrel of a defeat in their last Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund, only for Vinicius Jr to inspire a comeback.
The 2024 Ballon’ d’Or runner up failed to do the same against Milan, though, and now Carlo Ancelotti‘s side, who were hammered 4-0 by Barcelona in their last outing, have conceded nine goals in their last three home matches.
Los Blancos are also nine points adrift of their bitter rivals at the top of La Liga with a game in hand.
Superstar signing Kylian Mbappe cut a frustrated figure against Milan as his struggles continued following his long-awaited move to Real from Ligue 1 champions PSG.
The French World Cup winner has scored eight goals and added two assists in 15 games in all competitions so far, but his general performances have underwhelmed.
He has just one goal and one assist in the Champions League ahead of a tough trip to Anfield to face Liverpool in the next round of fixtures.
The defending champions now face a race to qualify for the next stage of the competition.
Teams who finish in the top eight places automatically qualify for the last 16, while those finishing 9th to 24th have to contest a play-off to secure a place in the next round.
Madrid’s four remaining group stage fixtures are Liverpool (A), Atalanta (H), RB Salzburg (H), and Brest (A).
