American Players Abroad

Sixty-nine days after the completion of the group stage, the Champions League returns Feb. 15 with the start of the Round of 16, featuring Real Madrid vs. PSG, Liverpool vs. Inter Milan and Manchester United vs. Atlético. It's important to know the Champions League schedule 2022 with the knockout round matches falling on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 3 p.m. ET — plan out those days of extended lunches or PTO accordingly.

The Yunus Musah goal vs Atlético Madrid on Saturday was the 19-year-old’s first LaLiga goal of the season and the second of his career. Musah was given the start against the Spanish giants and silenced the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano when he opened the scoring in the 25th minute.

Yunus Musah Goal vs Atlético Madrid

Yunus Musah gives Valencia the lead over Atletico!

That's his first LaLiga goal since November 2020. pic.twitter.com/Dyi2LhSPFB

Ricardo Pepi got his second start for Augsburg on Saturday as the struggling Bundesliga side tried to keep up with the superior Bayer Leverkusen. 

The young American is no stranger to a struggling team as FC Dallas lost 15 of its 34 games last season, but Pepi also hasn’t had to deal with a relegation battle. Saturday wasn’t an ideal second start for the club as Leverkusen thoroughly thumped the underdogs 5-1 and Pepi was taken off in the 57th minute.

Here’s the Pepi report as I tracked every move and involvement the striker had.

The number of USMNT winter transfers to Europe continues to grow by the day. With Major League Soccer not beginning until Feb. 26, some of the brighter stars are skipping out on next season with their respective MLS clubs and looking for minutes in Europe.

Matt Miazga earned a second straight start on Tuesday since returning from Covid-19 for Alavés. It was a match he’ll want to forget, committing a shocking mistake to gift Real Betis a goal. The only bright side was Alavés conceded three other goals in a 4-0 defeat, including two beauties I must label Puskás worthy lest I be called out if one actually wins the honor in a year’s time. 

Weston McKennie has now scored two headed goals in the span of three days for Juventus. The American netted a goal in the Supercoppa Italiana on Wednesday and was once again a menace in the air on Saturday against Udinese. The McKennie goal vs Udinese provided Juventus with some breathing space as the Italian giants won 2-0.

Barring a Manchester City disaster, the 2021-22 Premier League title race appears all but sorted as City defeated second-place Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday. The victory was City’s 12th straight in the league as the defending champions look set to win a fourth Premier League title in the last five seasons.

Despite the close score Manchester City looked the clear favorite throughout the 90 minutes. I apologize to my fellow Americans, but the attack force of Christian Pulisic, Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech was as dangerous as a dandelion.

Heading into what could be one of the biggest years of his career, Weston McKennie is playing superbly right now. The Juventus midfielder has played every second for the club in 2022, including all 120 minutes in the Supercoppa Italia on Wednesday at the San Siro. Though Inter Milan pulled off a 2-1 comeback to take the trophy, McKennie scored a great goal, after which we saw how much his teammates love him — or at least how much they really want an excuse to touch his gorgeous hair.