Someone should make a documentary about Christian Pulisic. His season has been a real cinematic event, the American achieving epic highs and simply disappointing lows over the course of the campaign for an infuriating Milan team.
Then again, that is kind of Pulisic’s thing, and an immense talent who never quite seems to be able to piece a full 50-game stretch together (then again, there are very few who can.) Either way, he stuck to the narrative with aplomb this weekend, playing a starring role – alongside Mexico’s Santi Gimenez – to lead Milan to an important win over Bologna ahead of the Coppa Italian final midweek.
And that’s pretty much where the positive vibes ended for Americans abroad in Europe over the weekend. Weston McKennie was effective, but Tim Weah pulled off a remarkable disappearing act as Juventus threw away yet another lead to make their Champions League qualification efforts far more complicated than they should be (seriously, this club’s penchant for getting it wrong should be studied.)
Haji Wright tried to do the business for Coventry in their promotion push, but he picked an inopportune day for a forgettable showing as the Sky Blues got it all wrong in the first leg of their playoff semifinal tie. Meanwhile, Antonee Robinson was left out of the Fulham squad with no apparent explanation, not featuring as the Cottagers saw their unlikely European dreams fall flat against middling Everton.
Not long ago, it was all doom and gloom in Milan. Still reeling from the nightmarish tenure of Paolo Fonseca, the Italian giants looked far removed from contention for European football. Nothing about the season was going well.
Sergio Conceicao’s tenure has been something of a mixed bag. The Super Cup win over Inter offered hope, but subsequent inconsistencies have shown that he might not be the man long term. Still, they have a Coppa Italia final to look forward to next week, and a performance like Friday’s showed just how good this team can be on their day.
Milan were markedly worse for the first half, but came alive in the second. And Christian Pulisic was the man who offered the spark. His industry created the first, a direct dart and layoff to the path of CONCACAF rival Santi Gimenez, who made the finish look easy. He scored the eventual winner soon after, reacting first to a loose ball and sending the Bologna keeper the long way.
It was, admittedly, an odd sort of showing from Pulisic. For all of his running and impact at the right moments, he was also anonymous for long stretches. But that’s the way the American functions for Milan. He rarely dominates, but always seems to make a mark on the game.
Pulisic – who indeed does have an eponymous docuseries on Paramount+ – managed to set a career best for goal contributions in a season. With 11 goals and nine assists in 2024-25 and 12 goals and eight assists this campaign, he is the only USMNT player in the last 20 years to record 20 goal contributions in multiple seasons in a top-five European league.
Milan are three points off qualification for European football after a dismal campaign. Another couple of sneakily big showings and Pulisic could be playing at a level befitting of his talents next year.
