The eyes of Europe will be on San Siro on Sunday night as AC Milan and Juventus renew hostilities, but there might just be a bit of extra interest from the United States too.
La Gazzetta dello Sport talks about the ‘American derby’ between Milan and Juve, with Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah on one side, while Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie will be on the other.
They are US national team team-mates and great friends, but they will be opponents for one night in the big match at the top of Serie A. A continuum of what we saw in the summer, when the two teams faced each other in Los Angeles on tour.
For the Bianconeri, McKennie has become a staple of the team over time and recently crossed the milestone of 100 appearances. Today he is a reliable element in the middle of the pitch for Max Allegri, after a summer spent with doubts about his future.
Then he took part in the American tour with the team and above all with Weah, the new face of the market, convincing the management also by virtue of necessity.
Timothy, who got off to a great start after arriving in Italy, often alternated with his compatriot, even though in the derby against Toro the two were seen on the pitch together from the start. With the USA it happens often, with Juve it was the first time.
On the other side there are Pulisic and Musah, testimonials of RedBird Capital’s new Milan. The winger has already registered four goals and an assist in the first eight games of the season, quickly improving his tally from his last season at Chelsea, which ended with a goal and 2 assists in 30 games.
Musah convinced Pioli with flexibility: he started the season as an alternative to Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but was called into action more than once to give him a plus of intensity from the start or during the match in progress.
On Sunday evening, the four Americans could all be on the field at the same time, something which has never happened in the history of the two teams.
The curiosity is that everyone has an excellent relationship, consolidated by experience and victories in the national team: together they won two Concacaf Nations League (2019-20 and 2022-23) and participated in the World Cup in Qatar. Friends off the field, enemies for one night on the pitch on Sunday.
