Foot & Soccer Soccer Match Reports, Football News 
Milan is making ready for one in all its most important stretches of the season, and Christian Pulisic returns from worldwide obligation with the highlight firmly on him. After a turbulent break with the United States Males’s Nationwide Staff (USMNT), the American star is ready to rejoin a facet closely depending on his contributions.
He’ll now return to Serie A derby motion towards Napoli following a tough worldwide break the place the USMNT suffered disappointing losses to Panama and Canada, surrendering the CONCACAF Nations League crown. Regardless of the struggles with the nationwide staff, Pulisic’s function at Milan is unquestioned — and the membership will look to him once more to guide by instance.
Alongside Tijjani Reijnders, the 26-year-old is poised to proceed driving the Rossoneri ahead, and intriguingly, he additionally has a chunk of membership historical past inside touching distance — one which includes one of many best names to ever put on the Crimson and Black’s package.
Milan’s reliance on Pulisic and Reijnders
Regardless of a season crammed with accidents, inconsistency, and the looming stress of sustaining UEFA Champions League qualification, Pulisic has emerged as one in all Milan’s two most decisive gamers, sharing the accountability with Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders. The previous Premier League winger has thrived below two totally different managers this season, delivering performances which have rapidly elevated him to talisman standing at San Siro.
La Gazzetta dello Sport highlighted this exceptional affect, stating that, “When contemplating solely the midfielders – at most wingers or the attacking midfielders, however not centre-forwards – Pulisic and Reijnders are the second-best duo of the final 20 years for Milan in Serie A.” Their mixed numbers have been staggering. Between them, the pair have 28 objective contributions in simply 29 league video games, sustaining a formidable common of 0.96 contributions per match.
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Establishing roots: Pulisic breaks Kaka’s 18-year file at Milan
This return is paying homage to one other iconic Il Diavolo pairing. Nevertheless, the complete scale of Pulisic’s potential achievement will solely turn out to be obvious when wanting deeper into the file books.
Benchmark duo: Kaka and Seedorf
The thriller that has been quietly constructing round Pulisic’s particular person goal-scoring efforts this season comes into focus when positioned towards a towering file from the late 2000s. It’s none aside from Kaka‘s historic 2007-08 FIFA Membership World Cup and Ballon d’Or-winning marketing campaign that the USMNT star now has in his sights.
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From Kaka to Captain America: Pulisic’s Historic Impression at AC Milan in 2024
Again then, Kaka and Clarence Seedorf mixed for a monumental 38 targets and assists in Serie A, setting a regular that no Milan midfield partnership has come near matching — till now. The Brazilian maestro had 15 targets and 11 assists that season, whereas his achieved Dutch teammate added seven targets and 5 assists. That marketing campaign might have ended with the Italian big ending fifth, however the person brilliance of their midfield duo grew to become a lasting reference level for future generations.
Now, Pulisic and Reijnders are getting ready to difficult that file. With 9 video games remaining, the prolific winger already has 9 targets and six assists, whereas Reijnders has added 9 targets and three assists. The mathematics is easy — they want simply ten extra objective contributions mixed to equal Kaka and Seedorf’s tally.
SurveyWhich participant do you consider has had an even bigger affect on Milan this season?
Which participant do you consider has had an even bigger affect on Milan this season?
