American Players Abroad

Christian Pulisic is back. The American featured in about 20 minutes of Chelsea’s 1-0 Champions League victory against Malmö on Tuesday.

Pulisic was included in a Chelsea lineup for the first time since the Premier League opener against Crystal Palace on Aug. 14. While he might have spent the majority of the night on the bench, it’s the most action for him since his ankle injury against Honduras in September.

Chelsea midfielder Christian Pulisic is ready to return from a long-term injury for Tuesday's Champions League group game against Malmo but Mason Mount will miss out after failing to recover from illness, manager Thomas Tuchel said on Monday.

U.S. international Pulisic, 23, has not played since the Premier League opener in August due to an ankle problem, while Mount travelled with the squad for the 3-0 win at Newcastle United on Saturday but had to withdraw on the eve of the game.

American defender Joe Scally recorded his first Bundesliga goal and assist in the month of October. Scally picked up an assist on Halloween with a spooky good cross to give Borussia Monchengladbach the lead against VfL Bochum. 

Joe Scally Assist 

Weston McKennie scored for a second straight match, but a man who is in even finer goal scoring form struck twice as Juventus lost yet again, this time 2-1 to Hellas Verona on Saturday.

Giovanni Simeone — son of Atlético Madrid manager Diego — followed up his four-goal performance against Lazio on Sunday by scoring twice against Juve in the first 15 minutes on Saturday. The first was a simple tap-in; his second was an absolute worldie that proved to be the match winner.

Ricardo Pepi won’t be playing in Major League Soccer for much longer. The 18-year-old American phenom has requested a transfer from FC Dallas and is being eyed up by some of Europe’s biggest clubs. In an interview with 90 Minute Football, Pepi revealed that his dream is to play for Real Madrid. That begs the question; has an American played for Real Madrid?

As the calendar approaches Halloween, Sergiño Dest is having a truly horrifying streak of missed chances in LaLiga. Barcelona fell 1-0 to Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday in league action and a brutal Sergiño Dest miss could have been the difference.

With Barcelona trailing in the 36th minute, Memphis Depay made a brilliant move to fire in a dangerous cross toward the back post. Dest timed his run to perfection, and with the speed of a bullet he got on to the end of Depay’s cross. The only issue was Dest fired the ball into the stratosphere.

Since losing Cristiano Ronaldo in the offseason, Juventus has struggled to replace the Portuguese star’s impressive goal haul. Ronaldo had an incredible ability to leap for headed goals in his three seasons with the Bianconeri. But this Weston McKennie goal vs Sassuolo showed the Old Lady still has a pretty good option when lobbing balls into the box. Unfortunately for the American, the rest of his team wasn’t up to his level on Wednesday. 

Fort Worth native Bryan Reynolds made his first career start for AS Roma on Thursday. It wasn’t a match to remember. 

Reynolds, a right back who moved to Italy from FC Dallas over the summer, was part of the worst defensive performance in José Mourinho’s 1,008-match career in a stunning 6-1 defeat to Bodø/Glimt in the Europa Conference League. Never before had Mourinho, a man often accused of playing boring, defensive football, allowed six goals in a match.

Chelsea defeated Swedish opposition Malmö in the Champions League on Wednesday 4-0 in the pouring London rain but suffered a pair of injuries as Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner both left the game early. The Lukaku and Werner injuries took place in the first half.

Lukaku was substituted out after his ankle was caught in a challenge by a Malmö defender. Later on, Werner was sprinting for a ball over the top and pulled up grabbing at his hamstring.

If European football wasn’t as familiar with American manager Jesse Marsch as it should’ve been, it sure as hell is now. On Tuesday, the RB Leipzig boss masterminded a stirring performance at the Parc des Princes that had the German side deservedly ahead 2-1 with just over 20 minutes to play. 

But a terrible mistake from American midfielder Tyler Adams allowed Lionel Messi to equalize before a rash challenge in the area gifted PSG another from the spot.