There will be an all-American clash at San Siro on Sunday night as Christian Pulisic’s AC Milan host Weston McKennie’s Juventus.
La Gazzetta dello Sport begin a report by pointing out that Pulisic and McKennie will face off for the last time as opponents this season. Once Milan-Juve is over, the pair will meet back up at the national team’s training camp as team-mates, ahead of a World Cup on home soil.
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First, however, they have to seal their Champions League qualification, and their clash at San Siro will reveal a lot. They’ve faced each other 10 times already, across the Bundesliga (one played for Dortmund, the other for Schalke) and in Italy.
Their record is essentially even, with neither player ever having bullied the other, except for Chelsea’s 4-0 thrashing of Juventus in the Champions League in 2021.
Contrasting moments
The first leg in Turin ended goalless, but Milan left the Stadium with the unpleasant feeling of a missed opportunity. Pulisic was integral to this disappointment, having missed a penalty early in the second half. He was immediately forgiven, because he had scored four in four before that game.
Then came the Christian of 2026. Until December, the Rossoneri forward had scored eight goals, with a sensational average of one every 74 minutes. Then darkness fell, the goals disappeared, and problems arose.
There were physical issues: first a muscle injury, then fatigue and finally bursitis. There were personal issues: the not-so-minor disagreement with Leao, particularly in the Lazio game. There were private issues: his ex-girlfriend Alex Melton brought it up on social media.
There were also contractual problems: dialogue with Milan has been stalled for months. There have even been national-team issues: coach Pochettino has decided to strip him of the captain’s armband, with no guarantee of reinstating it in time for the World Cup.
Pulisic has put in a string of lacklustre performances in 2026, clearly affected by all these situations. He obviously remains one of Allegri’s key players, but to definitively secure a Champions League spot, he needs to return to scoring. Possibly as early as Sunday night.
Meanwhile, with Luciano Spalletti’s arrival as Juventus coach, McKennie has earned a central role with the Bianconeri that he had never managed in the previous five years. His versatility, ability to attack spaces and his eye for goal endeared him to Lucio.
He has always been a starter under the Certaldo-born coach (except for the suspension against Atalanta) and has scored nine goals and provided eight assists in 32 games under Juventus’ new management. To think that with Tudor on the bench he didn’t score and wasn’t a starter.
Thus, the ‘little wizard’ as he is nicknamed for his celebration in which he mimes waving a magic wand is consistently in the USA team, even scoring after a three-year drought during the defeat to Belgium last month. Above all, he earned a new deal: €4m net per year until 2030.