USMNT milestone: Weston McKennie and Tim Weah combine for special Juventus attack

In a week in which he complained of prejudice against U.S. national team players in Europe, Weston McKennie did what he does best.

In the face of adversity, the midfielder stood up to be counted and proved that you write him and his USMNT teammates off at your peril.

Left on the bench, alongside compatriot Tim Weah, for their Italian club Juventus as they hosted Manchester City, the pair combined as second-half substitutes to secure a statement victory against Pep Guardiola’s side.

Just six minutes into their introduction to the match, McKennie started a move by finding Weah and then burst into the penalty area, before the latter sent a perfect cross to the back post for the Texan to volley past Ederson in spectacular fashion.

US version:

Scored in Turin, Made in America! 🇮🇹🤝🇺🇸

Juves #USMNT duo combine for a goal to remember as Tim Weah sets up Weston McKennie 🪄 pic.twitter.com/ZaZsL3u7jY

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 11, 2024

British version:

Juventus doubles their lead over Man City 😳

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/okSptReD23

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 11, 2024

It made it 2-0 against the reigning Premier League champions and created a piece of men’s Champions League history.

It was the first time an American assisted another American for a goal in Europe’s premier club competition. “There was a wonderful, lazy confidence about the way Timothy Weah threw it into his compatriot’s path,” said commentator Clive Tyldesley on Paramount+.

“I fell over,” McKennie said after the game. ‘No, I’m just playing. We’ve seen it before, I did it against Barcelona too.”

McKennie and Weah take their USMNT affiliation to club level (Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

There was a timely resonance to the moment, especially for McKennie, who spoke about his frustration with perceived bias against American players in excerpts from a new Paramount+ documentary about Christian Pulisic.

“There is definitely a bias,” said McKennie, who has had to prove himself to two different managers over the past two summers after appearing to be redundant in Turin. “I usually experience it when I am at Juventus. Every year I’m out there somehow ready to be thrown out, and every summer I’m like a new player coming in and trying to make a name for himself.”

McKennie has started just three of a possible six Champions League games for Juventus and was initially left on the bench for Weah on Wednesday after recently recovering from muscle problems that limited his involvement.

After the final whistle, Juventus’ X account published a photo of the pair with the caption “American connection” and a stars and stripes emoji. The win lifted Thiago Motta’s side to 14th place in the Champions League and boosted their chances of automatic qualification to the last 16 of the tournament, with two games of the first phase of the competition remaining.

American connection 🇺🇸🔗#JuveManCity #UCL pic.twitter.com/kH18CKbUia

— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) December 11, 2024

It was a Champions League evening that started unfavorably for the Americans in Europe: Christian Pulisic was injured at Milan, striker Folarin Balogun was sidelined at Monaco and McKennie and Weah on the bench. The night before, in-form striker Ricardo Pepi started on the bench as PSV lost to Brest, while Malik Tillman had a tough night in the same game.

Gio Reyna, however, bucked the trend as he made his first start of the season in any competition for Borussia Dortmund in their home match against Barcelona.

Reyna started in midfield against the Catalan giants, a major upturn from his recent minimal playing time from the bench in the Bundesliga, where his season so far has been ruined by groin problems.

A positive step for Gio Reyna despite Dortmund’s defeat to Barcelona (Photo by Lars Baron / Getty Images)

But the 22-year-old attacking midfielder played 73 minutes of a pulsating 3-2 defeat at Signal Iduna Park, a sign he is ready to take on a more meaningful role in Nuri Sahin’s team in the future. Against Barcelona, ​​no other Dortmund player made more passes into the final third than Reyna’s six, according to Fotmob.

He was back in the starting lineup on the second anniversary of the start of a spectacular feud with former USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter, which left a sour note in their relationship after the 2022 World Cup.

GO DEEPER

Gio Reyna apologized to American teammates for his lack of effort, sources say

At San Siro, Milan’s USMNT midfielder Yunus Musah was another player to start for his team as the Rossoneri won 2-1 against Red Star Belgrade.

But the headlines came in Turin, where Manchester City’s latest struggle had a distinctly American flavor and where the evening’s goal might have gone a little towards easing that perceived stigma.

(Top photo: Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)