The USMNT star was one of Chelsea's heroes en route to the first major trophy of his career
There was a time, just a few short years ago, when seeing an American in the Champions League was a novelty. Fans would huddle around illegal streams to catch a glimpse of Europe's top club competition and, hopefully, a glimpse at a U.S. men's national team star taking part of it.
Times have changed. The Champions League is a behemoth, with every game now broadcast and easy to track down. Americans, too, are now commonplace in it. At one point this season, nine Americans took the field on the same Champions League matchday. It's something that felt so, so far away about a decade ago.
Still, only one American has ever taken the pitch in a Champions League final – and he lifted the trophy at the end of it. That player is Christian Pulisic. And make no mistake: he wasn’t just along for the ride. Pulisic played a crucial role in Chelsea’s title run in 2021, scoring one of the club’s biggest goals en route to the final – against one of the biggest teams in world football.
It's worth noting that Jovan Kirovski was technically the first American to win the Champions League, but he didn’t feature in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-1 victory over Juventus.
So, ahead of this weekend's Champions League final, GOAL looks at Pulisic's Champions League moment and why it mattered so much to those who follow the American game.
AFPWHAT HAPPENED?
When Pulisic arrived at Chelsea, he already had big-game experience. He'd shone at Borussia Dortmund, emerging as the latest starlet to break through in black and yellow. His performances in Germany, where he had 29 goal contributions in four seasons, earned him a big move to Chelsea, a club where he'd have a better chance at European glory.
It came in his second season. After an 11-goal, 10-assist debut with , Pulisic was given Chelsea's No. 10, illustrating just how important the club expected him to be. Hindsight now tells us that it never quite worked out, but that hindsight also minimizes just how important Pulisic was during Chelsea's Champions League-winning season.
No moment was more important than the one he provided on April 27, 2021. On that day, he scored against mighty Real Madrid, earning a draw away from home in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. With that goal, he became the youngest Chelsea player to score in a Champions League semifinal. He also became the first American to do that, too. Chelsea went on to win the second leg, 2-0, and secure their place in the final.
Once there, Pulisic came off the bench as Chelsea won 1-0 against mighty Manchester City at the Estádio do Dragão in Portugal. By featuring as a substitute, he became the first American to play in a Champions League final and the second American to win it after Jovan Kirovski did so in 1997.
Pulisic told : "The end of the season is just a time I'll never forget. I mean, halfway through the season, if you were to tell [the Chelsea squad] that we're winning the Champions League, it would have been hard to believe, but the work that we put in, the change in the team and how we all came together, it meant so much more at the end of the season. It was just something that we'll share with each other forever."
AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHY IT MATTERED?
Shortly after the final whistle blew, each player got their moment with the trophy. Pulisic got his, raising Ole Big Ears into the night sky with the rest of his Chelsea teammates. Moments later, though, he got to share the moment with his family and, in many ways, the rest of American soccer.
"There's no way to describe this moment. I never in my life thought that I could be here," Pulisic said after the Chelsea triumph. "I hope there's some kids watching back home in America thinking that they can do the same. It's massive, this is the biggest thing you can win in club football, and I'm just so proud of this team. It's a joy to be here."
He then pointed to his sweatshirt, one adorned with U.S. Soccer's logo.
"That's why I'm wearing this," he said. "Like I said, I hope there's kids watching back home in America. You can do anything you want to, man."
In recent years, that belief has ballooned. Of the 24 teams that qualified for the Champions League's knockout stage, seven had Americans in the squad. And, while none went on to make it to this weekend's finale, Pulisic proved that it can be done, both to his international teammates and any other American watching on at home.
"It really just shows what we're representing out there," Pulisic said a few weeks later. "Being an American playing on the national team and then winning the Champions League, I think it's just a cool message."
Getty ImagesFROM THOSE WHO WERE THERE
Just a few short weeks after lifting the trophy, Pulisic was back in USMNT camp. He was ready to go for the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League finals, starting both the semifinal win over Honduras and the finale against Mexico, a match that saw him bury a 114th-minute penalty kick to win another trophy.
Before those games, though, all eyes were on Pulisic. Would he be fit to play? How would the USMNT use him? Most importantly, though, what did his Champions League success mean to the group as a whole?
"He is a player that has gone when no other American player has gone and won the Champions League with this club and played a key role in doing that," then-U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter said of Pulisic. "So, as a group, we're extremely, extremely proud of him."
Added USMNT midfielder and longtime friend Weston McKennie echoed the same sentiments.
“Christian coming back and being fit and coming off the high of winning the Champions League, I think it’s very important. To also be able to bring that mentality over here, because we're all working towards what they accomplished the other night, and we're also working to get better," McKennie said. “When someone wins a trophy, it just helps the group realize that we want to have a winning mentality, that we want to win games, and we want to win titles, we want to win trophies.
"So I think him coming back into the group, we’ll be very happy to have him back, and I think he'll be able to share some of his experiences as well and have it rub off on us.”
Getty Images SportWHAT CAME NEXT
The hope was that Pulisic's trophy lift would be a watershed moment. It was. American players continue to make waves in Europe, scoring big goals and breaking big records along the way. But winning it? That's still as difficult as ever and, at the moment, that's the big question: who will be the next American to make it to a Champions League final?
It won't be Pulisic next year, as Milan failed to qualify for Europe's premier tournament. Plenty of Americans did, though. Multiple Americans find themselves scattered among some of the world's biggest teams. With a few big games and a whole lot of luck, another American could soon join Pulisic in lifting that trophy.
For now, though, fans of the USMNT can still reflect on what Pulisic accomplished just a few short years ago. He's now one of the best in Serie A, and the frustrations of his Chelsea tenure are well and truly behind him.
That night in Portugal, though, will always remain special, both for Pulisic and for the Americans back home who saw one of their own win it all.
