Gio Reyna earned his first start in a long while for Borussia Dortmund in their win over Werder Bremen, while it was a rude return for Pellegrino Matarazzo as he suffered his first defeat with John Brooks and Hoffenheim.
Jordan Pefok broke out of his goal-scoring funk with a dramatic winner to help Union Berlin beat Mainz, while Gio Reyna came off the bench to score a goal in Borussia Dortmund’s annihilation of Freiburg.
Kevin Paredes scored his first Bundesliga goal in a loss to Wolfsburg, while John Brooks had a difficult debut for Hoffenheim as they were drubbed by Joe Scally and Borussia Monchengladbach.
John Brooks is back in the German Bundesliga as he has signed with TSG Hoffenheim from Portuguese Primeira Liga side Benfica, the club announced on Thursday.
Either Gio Reyna or Christian Pulisic will see their Champions League campaign come to an end in February, as Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea are set to face off in the final 16 of the competition.
Gio Reyna’s uneventful start for Borussia Dortmund was the highlight of yet another tough week for Americans in the Champions League, with the Rangers Yanks seeing a merciful end to their dire campaign, and Josh Cohen suffering another heavy loss.
A rare start for Christian Pulisic paid dividends for Chelsea in their win over Salzburg, while Weston McKennie and Juventus fell just short in their do-or-die comeback attempt against Benfica.
Josh Cohen and Maccabi Haifa pulled off a surprising upset over Weston McKennie and Italian powerhouse Juventus, while Malik Tillman and James Sands likely improved their stock with Rangers by missing their embarrassing loss to Liverpool.
Weston McKennie was the only American with reason to celebrate after the latest round of Champions League games, as a dismal week saw Christian Pulisic ignored, Gio Reyna and Cameron Carter-Vickers miss out, and several more on the losing end.
Most Yanks had a difficult second round of Champions League group-stage games, with James Sands seeing red in Rangers’ heavy loss at Napoli, and Gio Reyna’s promising return to Dortmund’s staring XI marred by a late Citeh come-back.
