The road to the group stage of European competition continued rolling along, with the third qualification rounds of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League all kicking off last week.
Folarin Balogun earned a late penalty for Monaco to save them complete embarrassment on their trip to Croatia to face Dinamo Zagreb, while Christian Pulisic’s long goal-contribution streak for AC Milan finally came to an end in their lifeless loss at Bayer Leverkusen.
The new league-based format for European competition will soon get underway, with Thursday’s Champions League draw setting up USMNT stars Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Giovanni Reyna and more for a number of can’t miss games, while giving all American participants a realistic chance to reach the knockout round.
In the early-rounds of qualification to reach the group stages for the three European competitions, Rokas Pukštas was the only American to earn a start for his team, however the most memorable performance of the round was a limited cameo by former USMNT player Aron Jóhannson.
A wasteful PSV Eindhoven was spared from facing a deficit after the first leg of their Round of 16 tie with Borussia Dortmund, with Malik Tillman drawing a key penalty in a game that also saw Sergiño Dest and Ricardo Pepi get in on the action.
English Premier League side Arsenal FC made the short trip across the English Channel to take on PSV in the last Champions League game in Group B.
Another strong performance from Malik Tillman gave PSV Eindhoven a puncher’s chance of still advancing out of Group B, while Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah couldn’t prevent AC Milan from inching closer to an embarrassing last-place finish in Group F.
Malik Tillman’s drawn penalty for PSV helped the Dutch team fight back to earn a point against Sevilla, while Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah could only help AC Milan maintain a draw at BVB as Gio Reyna watched from the bench.
Christian Pulisic made his first Champions League appearance for AC Milan off the bench as they were held by Newcastle while Brenden Aaronson and Union Berlin lost a heart-breaker to Real Madrid.
The groups for the upcoming Champions League season were drawn today, setting up what will be a much-anticipated showdown between AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah, and Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna.
