Americans Abroad: Pulisic Opens 2026 Account for AC Milan, Tillman Ends Drought Before USMNT Camp

GOAL Ryan Tolmich and Tom Hindle | Mar 23, 2026 05:25+06:00 Americans Abroad: Christian Pulisic gets first goal contribution of 2026 for AC Milan while Leverkusen's Malik Tillman snaps scoring drought ahead of USMNT camp GOAL reviews the major takeaways from Americans playing in Europe, including big moments from two key USMNT creators Goal celebrations are often used to convey messages, and Milan's on Saturday did just that. There has been so much noise in recent days about the state of the team and about the relationship between Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao. The celebration, then, was a small gesture, but it was loud. There was no Leao on Saturday, but Pulisic was there, providing an assist in a 3-2 win over Torino. After one of the goals, the Milan team gathered. Half did Pulisic's signature celebration while the other half did Leao's. It was a statement of unity, not just from the players involved in the headlines, but from the team as a whole. That sort of statement means something, and it was easy to see that on Pulisic's face. Pulisic wasn't the only player with reason to smile. Malik Tillman scored one of his own, and despite it coming in a disappointing draw, it'll surely be a momentum builder. That goal meant that arguably the best two attacking midfielders of the U.S. Men's National Team had big goal contributions just days before USMNT camp. There's a very real possibility, too, that the Pulisic-Tillman duo starts together in these games. If that does happen, both will have reason to be more confident than they were heading into this weekend, which is a nice little lift for Mauricio Pochettino's side. GOAL takes a look at the performances from Americans Abroad this weekend... Getty Images Sport Pulisic provides as Milan showcase unity It wasn't the goal he was so desperately searching for, but it's a start. Pulisic is back to making things happen, and that's great news for both AC Milan and the USMNT. Starting up top alongside Nicholas Fullkrug at striker, Pulisic provided an assist in Milan's 3-2 win over Torino. The American's big moment came on Milan's second goal, as his ball across the box teed up Adrien Rabiot to give Milan the lead. It was his first goal contribution this year, and it'll surely feel like a weight off his back given the talk of recent weeks. Given Milan's celebrations, that Leao business is another weight that can come off, too. All week, the relationship between the two has been dissected after Leao was caught expressing his frustration with the American. But this is a common occurrence that happens regularly at the elite level. It is two top stars pushing each other to be better and do better. It's why they can likely now laugh it off just days later. With the Scudetto race still ongoing, Milan will need both Pulisic and Leao to make up ground on Inter - who have a six-point lead with eight games left. On Saturday, at the very least, Pulisic seemingly got back on track as the club heads into the final months of that race. Getty Images Sport Tillman's tidy finish Saturday wasn't quite Tillman at his best, but it did showcase what he can do in his best moments. Given the chance to change a game, Tillman was calm and composed and made a hard goal look easy in the 22nd minute of Leverkusen's visit to Heidenheim. The American ran onto a lofted ball at the back post, finishing first time with a strike that he made far easier than it looked. Unfortunately for him, despite leading much of the game, Leverkusen threw away the result, drawing 3-3 to waste Tillman's goal. It will help him personally, though, as he heads to USMNT duty. He faces a fight for a starting spot, particularly if Weston McKennie is counted among the attacking midfielders as expected. The best way to lock down attacking midfield spots is to provide moments of attacking brilliance, which is what Tillman did for Leverkusen on Saturday. Can he do it for the USMNT now in these upcoming games? Getty Folarin Balogun gets a vital goal In a battle of two USMNT teammates in Folarin Balogun and Tanner Tessmann, one clearly came out on top. Monaco-Lyon was one of those strange spring fixtures that meant so much, but could matter admittedly little. Both sides are in the mix for Champions League spots, and could seriously do with a win here. But there was as much of a sense that they might simply lose enough games elsewhere in other league fixtures to make this six-pointer feel irrelevant. And that may yet be the case. But on Sunday, Monaco were the superior side, and thoroughly in control - despite playing away from home. They outshot, outpossessed, and rather outclassed the hosts in what was ultimately a comfortable 2-1 win. Balogun had a key role on the night, tucking home a penalty to give his side a 2-1 lead - an advantage they maintained for the rest of the fixture. Balogun now has 15 goals on the season, and you'd back him to grab a few more, too. Getty Johnny Cardoso turns in a gritty hour Sunday presented a chance for Johnny Cardoso to make a statement. The midfielder has struggled to lock down a consistent role under Diego Simeone this season, in part due to injuries, and has yet to fully impose himself at Atletico Madrid. A derby against Real Madrid, even with limited stakes, still offered the kind of stage he hasn’t quite seized. They were excellent in the first half, and Cardoso was part of the reason. The plan, clearly, was for Atleti to make it as difficult as possible in the middle, and then hit on the break. Cardoso went about that first task with aplomb, flying into tackles, breaking up play, and partaking in the dark arts a little bit, too, with some sneaky clips that didn't get called. On the ball, he offered little - but that wasn't really his remit on the day. In the end, he was the victim of a system change. Atleti had to go more attacking when the home side took the lead, and that meant sacrificing a central midfielder. Cardoso, despite not really doing much wrong, was the odd man out. Atleti went on to lose, 3-2, but the American showed, at least, that he can be trusted in the biggest of games. Moments you might have missed + Weston McKennie was uncharacteristically kept quiet in Juventus' 1-1 draw with Sassuolo
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