Germany

Union Berlin made its Bundesliga debut on Sunday afternoon, and not even a 4-0 beatdown from rivals RB Leipzig could dampen the mood at the Alte Försterei in East Berlin. 

In January of 2018, Philippe Coutinho became the second-richest transfer in soccer history when he moved from Liverpool to Barcelona. Essentially a replacement for Neymar, who had months earlier become the richest transfer ever, Coutinho never really quite fit in, as the impending Coutinho Bayern loan deal illustrates. 

VfL Wolfsburg is striving to be a leader in environmentally conscious practices. The Bundesliga club announced starting with the season-opener this weekend the Wolfsburg stadium, Volkswagen Arena, will only offer multi-use drink containers, completely doing away with single-use plastics. 

AOK-Stadion, where the Wolfsburg women’s team (one of the best in the world) plays its home matches, will follow suit.

Giovanni Reyna made quite an impression in his competitive debut with the Borussia Dortmund U-19 squad. It just wasn’t as good as his younger teammate.

Reyna, a 16-year-old American, scored in the first minute of Dortmund’s 9-2 win over Wuppertaler SV in the U-19 Bundesliga season opener on Sunday. His 14-year-old teammate, Youssoufa Moukoko, did even better, scoring six goals in his U-19 debut.

Christian Pulisic may be the most successful American playing in Europe right now, but he is by no means the only one. There are a bunch of American players who will be looking to break out at their clubs in Europe this season like Pulisic did at Borussia Dortmund. Here are the five American players in Europe you should watch out for this upcoming season:

With the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams reshaping the way we view the USMNT midfield, an overhaul of the striker position will eventually follow suit. The Gold Cup was more of the same with Jozy Altidore and Gyasi Zardes leading the line, but it’s a trio of 19-year-olds in Europe that now have an opportunity to stake their claim if they should first make the breakthrough at club level.

Christian Pulisic already looks like he’s going to be a good signing for Chelsea. The 20-year-old American has been impressive so far with the Blues, putting in a stellar performance against Barcelona and scoring twice against Salzburg.

After making six Bundesliga appearances for Bayern Munich last season following his January move from the Vancouver Whitecaps, much more is expected from 18-year-old Canadian phenom Alphonso Davies during his first full season in Bavaria. Although Davies only totaled 74 minutes of action with the first team last year, he was the Bundesliga’s youngest goalscorer throughout the 2018-19 campaign (as well as Bayern’s youngest goalscorer in 20 years) after opening his account against Mainz back on March 17.

Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) has been making headlines over the past few months by waging a steady assault on FIFA’s rights to everything in club soccer; most notable was an exclusive deal with Juventus, meaning that the club’s name, badge, kits and Allianz Stadium will only be available in PES 2020 — FIFA 20 players will have to make do with ‘Piemonte Calcio.’