CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Pulisic and AC Milan have no room for error in the UEFA Champions League
The USMNT captain leads his Italian club into a crucial game against Club Brugge with plenty at stake.
One of the teams under pressure to bounce back in the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League is AC Milan, led by Paulo Fonseca. After two matches in the group stage, they have yet to earn any points, and this Tuesday, they will face Club Brugge at San Siro for the third matchday. Christian Pulisic’s team needs a win to move up from 32nd place in the overall standings.
Champions League 2024/2025
| Classification | PTS | WM | TM | LM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31Sturm Graz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 32Milan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 33E. Roja | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Upcoming matches | |
|---|---|
| Milan - Brujas | T-22/10 12:45 |
| Real Madrid - Milan | T-05/11 15:00 |
| Sl. Bratislava - Milan | T-26/11 12:45 |
*Data updated to date Oct 21st, 2024
Although there are still six matches left to play, giving the Rossoneri a chance to advance to the next round, they must start their recovery soon after painful losses to Liverpool (1-3) and Bayer Leverkusen (1-0), albeit two of the toughest tests to be faced. Milan needs to carry the strong form they’ve shown in Serie A into Europe.
Despite having several stars like Álvaro Morata, Rafael Leão, Theo Hernández, and Mike Maignan, the most important player for AC Milan right now is the leader of the U.S. National Team, Christian Pulisic. A clear example of his impact was seen in the weekend‘s victory over Udinese, where the No. 11 assisted Samuel Chukwueze and guided the Rossoneri, even after they went down to 10 men following Tijjani Reijnders’ red card.
Currently, Fonseca’s side is part of the group of teams that have yet to earn a point in the new UEFA Champions League, alongside other notable squads like RB Leipzig, Girona, and RB Salzburg. If Milan secures three points and some other results work in their favour, they could move up to at least 24th place in the standings, such is the new format.
Pulisic wants more in the Champions League
In Tuesday’s match against Club Brugge, Pulisic will take the field with the objective of scoring his second goal of the current campaign, which would match his best records from the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons with Chelsea.
Additionally, if he manages to score and assist a teammate against the Belgian side, the American will reach double digits in the UEFA Champions League, as he currently has nine goals and nine assists in the competition.