AC Milan winger and USMNT captain Christian Pulisic returned from nearly a month out with injury to show his mettle and level his side’s Suppercoppa Italian semifinal clash against Juventus in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 26-year-old American converted a 71st-minute penalty to even proceedings at 1-1 – Pulisic has not missed a penalty in his professional career. Milan took the lead four minutes later on a bizarre Federico Gatti own goal and never relinquished it.
Pulisic hadn’t featured for Milan since suffering a calf injury on Dec. 6. An ankle injury in training pushed his return back to January.
The 2024/25 campaign has arguably been the best of the young American’s career, as his goal against Juventus brings him to nine in all competitions (in 21 contests).
Pulisic joined the Serie A giants for 20.80 million ($21.5 million) in 2023 after an up-and-down stint with Chelsea. He scored 12 goals and tallied eight assists in the league last season as Milan finished second.
Through 14 league games this season, Pulisic has five goals and four assists. However, Milan has regressed and sits seventh in the table with just 27 points in 17 games.
Friday’s victory marked the first for new coach Sergio Conceicao, hired from Porto in Liga NOS. A win over rival Juventus in the Supercup may spark Milan’s sinking season.
The Rossoneri will now face city rivals Inter Milan in a Derby Della Madonnina on Monday in the Supercoppa Final. Pulisic is excited for the occasion.
Were in the final! Great team spirit [tonight],” the 26-year-old admitted after the game. “We didnt do very well in the first half but well take the finalThis 100 per cent gives us confidence to go forward now.
“We want to repeat our victory against Inter, even if they are a great team,” Pulisic continued. Milan haven’t had much to cheer about this season, but the side did defeat Inter 2-1 in September.
The coach tells us we have quality, but we also need a lot of intensity, hunger and energy to win the game,” said striker Alvaro Morata. “He has brought in a lot of new hunger and mechanisms, we havent had much time to work with him, but now we have the opportunity to win a trophy.”
As with every trophy, you never know when your last chance will be, we must always have that mentality,” he continued. “When we enter Milanello every day, we see the names of all the trophies won by Milan and have the opportunity to add another page of history to that club. Weve got to give our all.
Leave a Reply