GOAL US takes a look at how Americans Abroad fared in the final fixtures of the 2024-25 season, with both Pulisic and McKennie in wins
It's all calmed down, at this point. A few months back, everything was on for Americans in Europe. Milan were still in the European hunt. Fulham could have squeezed into the Conference League. Bournemouth had a shot. Juventus were flailing.
Well, so much for the drama. Everything has sort of regressed to the most middling results possible. Milan faded late, and won't play European football, and most of the current conversation around Christian Pulisic is the fact that he's giving himself a summer off. Antonee Robinson's Fulham and Tyler Adams' Bournemouth ended up reflecting what they really are – slightly overperforming mid-table teams with not quite enough quality (or money) to make it into Europe.
Juve made it a bit more exciting on the final day, almost throwing away a Champions League spot before a loanee gave a penalty to his parent club and effectively gift-wrapped it for them. But even then, no Americans had any massive impact in that fixture, with both Weston McKennie and Tim Weah coming on as late subs.
It's not exactly tantalizing ahead of next season. But there's a Gold Cup to play in the meantime for some, and a Club World Cup for others.
GOAL US takes a look at how Americans Abroad fared in the final fixtures of the 2024-25 season.
Getty Images SportJuve barely secure Champions League football
It really didn't have to be this complicated. The Serie A title race brought fireworks, with Inter and Napoli kicking off concurrently in two separate title deciders. Napoli clinched things in the end – and never really looked like losing.
Meanwhile, in the race for fourth place, Juve insisted on making it hard for themselves. In fairness, Venezia were always going to put up a fight, needing a win and a favorable result elsewhere Sunday to ensure that they avoided relegation.
And early on, they might have done it. Even without U.S. international Gianluca Busio in the middle, they took the lead. But Juve, with Weah and McKennie watching from the bench, worked their way back into the game, and avoided a late scare to scrape a 3-2 win that was far more dramatic than it perhaps should have been.
McKennie and Weah both saw the pitch in the end, but mostly served as late legs to see things out with Juve well in control of the match. It marked a bit of an underwhelming end to the season for the duo, who will certainly hope to get further opportunities at the Club World Cup. At least they are both well-placed to play Champions League football next year.
Busio was injured in Venezia's warmups and missed the crucial clash. His side were relegated in their Serie A return.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportMilan mercifully end miserable season
So much for injury, right? Christian Pulisic was supposed to be out of contention for the rest of the season after withdrawing from the USMNT's Gold Cup squad. There were whispers that a chronic hip flexor issue has been bugging him all season, and he had been valiantly playing through the pain. That may be true, and he may need time off.
But he didn't do his PR campaign any favors by playing for Milan this weekend after opting out of the main national team competition. In fairness, it was a walk in the park for Milan, who have seldom looked so convincing.
Pulisic, for his part, offered all of the in-between stuff without finding the killer ball needed to really break things open. Indeed, Joao Felix played hero for Milan, scoring the decisive goal in a 2-0 win. Pulisic will now get a few months off to fix whatever, exactly, needs fixing.
Yunus Musah was handed a look, and didn't do loads with it, tallying 25 touches in 45 minutes before being subbed at half time. He's one who could perhaps do with a move this summer.
GettyHeartbreak in the Pokal
Who would have thought that the best story in German soccer would be a former University of Maryland midfielder who couldn't make it in the New York Red Bulls academy? Mael Corboz and German third tier Arminia Bielefeld were one of football's greatest fairytales in recent years, beating four Bundesliga teams en route to the DFB-Pokal final – including Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen.
Many hoped – if not expected – them to get the job done in the final on Saturday. But it wasn't meant to be, and they were fairly handily beaten, 4-2, by Stuttgart. Corboz played all 90 minutes in center midfield during the game.
But there was some good news for the German side, who topped the third division thanks to a late season run, and will play in the 2. Bundesliga next year. Whether they stay up remains to be seen, but a club that played in the top flight for 19 seasons is certainly back on the way where it should be – with an American at the center of it all.
GettyMoments you might have missed
+ Tyler Adams played 90 industrious minutes as Bournemouth saw off Leicester, 2-0, in their final game of the Premier League season.
+ Antonee Robinson endured a fairly forgettable conclusion to the year, outdone by the busy Omar Marmoush in a 2-0 loss for Fulham.
+ Youngster Rokas Pukstas found the net for Hajduk Split ahead of what is expected to be a summer move for the U.S. youth international.