They missed the chance to bask in the glow of the United States’ encouraging wins during the break, but some of the men’s national team’s most experienced stars were on form during the weekend as domestic action resumed in Europe.
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Wherever Massimiliano Allegri deploys Christian Pulisic, the results seem to be the same.
Whether it’s on either flank, in an attacking central berth or even up front as part of a strike duo, the USMNT star delivers.
On Sunday, pairing Rafael Leao in a front two for Milan, Pulisic scored the only goal of an important derby win against city rivals Inter.
His strike showed the rest of Serie A that Milan, at their full-intensity best, can be in the Serie A title mix. Pulisic tops the scoring charts in Italy’s top flight (five goals, level with Inter’s Hakan Calhanoglu and Bologna’s Riccardo Orsolini) and is approaching full fitness after missing four Milan games with a hamstring injury.
That setback also caused the 27-year-old to sit out the latest round of USMNT fixtures, missing out on the buzz of impressive wins over Paraguay and Uruguay. After returning from the bench for Milan in the 2-2 draw against Parma at the start of the month, he started at the San Siro yesterday and made all the difference.
Allegri first tried Pulisic as a striker in a competitive fixture in Milan’s season-opening 2-1 defeat against Cremonese but, after testing out the idea of two false nines during pre-season, the Milan coach hinted it may happen again.
“It worked well, but it had already worked in Australia,” Allegri told DAZN after the 1-0 win over Inter. “Christopher Nkunku is also important — we need everyone. Training together this week is an advantage because it increases the pace.”
Christian Pulisic celebrates his winner against Inter (Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Determined to avoid any hint of complacency, Allegri also highlighted Milan’s missed opportunities this term, times when he feels his side have lacked the right approach.
But Pulisic, who has another firebrand as his international coach in Mauricio Pochettino, views the high standards as a big inspiration.
”We see a coach who wants to win,” Pulisic told DAZN. “You want to play for a guy who you would run through a wall for. It gives us energy.”
After a brief recharge, Pulisic seems energised. It should bode well for club and country.
For the USMNT players who were not on international duty during the break, it was a weekend to remind everyone of their quality.
Malik Tillman saw his older brother, Timothy, get two appearances for the USMNT in Philadelphia and Tampa, while he rested back in Germany.
But on Saturday, Malik Tillman scored and assisted as Bayer Leverkusen secured a 3-1 victory away at Wolfsburg that nudged them into third place in the table ahead of Borussia Dortmund.
The display continued a return to form for Tillman. After his summer move from PSV to Leverkusen, he took time to achieve lift-off, with his transition not helped when the manager who signed him, Erik ten Hag, was swiftly sacked.
🇺🇸 Malik Tillman, ladies and gentlemen. pic.twitter.com/3e75TDTD8s
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) November 23, 2025
Missing games through injury has been another disruptive factor, but the undoubted ability that led to his €35million ($40m; £30m) transfer was evident at the weekend.
Back in the XI after starting on the bench for the previous 6-0 win against Heidenheim, Tillman, 23, did not let the opportunity pass him by.
He ticked off a statistical milestone, too, with Opta pointing out that he became the first United States international to record a goal and an assist in a Bundesliga match since Jordan Pefok for Union Berlin back in August 2022.
Twenty-four hours earlier, Tim Weah had set the tone. Another who sat out the international break, the Marseille forward also scored in a big win.
His side thrashed Nice 5-1, and Weah’s thunderous strike was one of the best goals as Marseille temporarily went top of France’s Ligue 1.
It was his first league goal for the club since joining the side that his father also played for in the summer.
Tim Weah scores for Marseille against Nice (Valery Hache/Getty Images)
It wasn’t all abundant positives for Americans.
Gio Reyna’s international break underlined what he can do, with the 23-year-old scoring against Paraguay, then assisting in last week’s 5-1 win over Uruguay.
But Renya had to accept being back among the substitutes for Borussia Monchengladbach at the weekend. He was introduced with 18 minutes remaining of the 3-0 win against Heidenheim.
Reyna has only started one league game for the Bundesliga club he joined during the summer, after his once-promising career at Dortmund went stale.
It seems he must continue to bide his time and convince Gladbach head coach Eugen Polanski he is ready to be a regular first-team player. No such problem for his compatriot Joe Scally, who was starting his ninth league game of the season and played the full match.
In the Premier League, Chris Richards was back in one of the English top flight’s best defences as Crystal Palace won again, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0.
But he had to be replaced after 83 minutes with what manager Oliver Glasner later attributed to muscle cramp.
They were the first Premier League minutes Richards has missed for his club all season, and Palace fans will hope it was a one-off.
What’s coming up this week?
It’s Champions League time and Malik Tillman will get a tough test of his fine form as Leverkusen take on Manchester City tomorrow (3pm, Paramount+/DAZN).
It will be an interesting game for Sergino Dest and Ricardo Pepi, too, as PSV head to Anfield to face a badly struggling Liverpool the following day (Wednesday, 3pm, Paramount+/ViX).
In the Conference League, we might see if Richards has recovered when Crystal Palace take on Strasbourg (Thursday, 3pm, Paramount+/ViX). Earlier the same day, Auston Trusty and Celtic play Feyenoord in the Europa League (12:45pm, Paramount+/ViX).
Then, on the weekend, Tyler Adams and Bournemouth travel to Sunderland (Saturday, 10am, Peacock Premium).