AC Milan’s Champions League hopes are now in big, big trouble following a 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes.
U.S. men’s national team stars Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah both started the key match in this season’s group of death, with Milan entering with two points from their first two games. However, they were undone in a 3-0 loss in Paris behind goals from Kylian Mbappe, Randall Kolo Muani and Lee Kang-in.
Through three games, Milan remain without a goal, and this loss leaves Milan with it all to do as they head into the second half of their group stage campaign.
Both sides were content to feel each other out a bit from the beginning, with no clear-cut early chances. Rafael Leao generated a half-chance with a driven shot early on, but it wasn’t until Mbappe’s goal in the 32nd minute that the game truly opened up.
It was a typical finish from the PSG star, who benefitted from a fantastic run and pass from Warren Zaire-Emery. Once on the ball, though, there was no stopping Mbappe, who cut inside to find space past Fikayo Tomori to make it 1-0.
Milan had chances to equalize, one of which saw Pulisic square a pass just past an outstretched Olivier Giroud, while PSG saw a second goal from Ousmane Dembele ruled out due to a foul on Yunus Musah in the buildup.
That second goal did come, though, as Kolo Muani tapped home from close range in the 53rd minute to seal all three points for PSG. Lee’s goal was just icing on the cake as he added a third to complete the lopsided win.
It”s a bad result for Milan, who now have a lot of work to do if they want to remain in Europe following the group stage.
With the loss, Milan are in last place in Group F with just two points from their first three matches. PSG are top, now with six points to show for their efforts, while Newcastle and Dortmund are both on four through three matches.
Pulisic, Musah and Milan will still have plenty of hope, though, heading into the second set of fixtures, where they’ll host PSG and Dortmund before visiting Newcastle. They’ll have to, ultimately, figure out a way to score, though, as a team that has scored 16 goals in Serie A cannot seem to find the back of the net in the Champions League.
It’s been a tough Champions League week for the USMNT contingent, with PSV’s draw with Lens on Tuesday harming their hopes of advancing as well.
While there was at least one bright spot for PSV in Malik Tillman’s assist, as simple as it was, there was none here as neither Musah nor Pulisic did anything too notable in the defeat.
Pulisic’s best moment came in the second half, although he likely should have taken the shot rather than passing to Giroud. In general, he was the most active of Milan’s three attackers, but was unable to add anything tangible to Milan’s anemic attack.
As for Musah, his biggest contribution was getting fouled to prevent PSG’s second goal, although he was relatively solid in the midfield against a talented PSG team.
Goal
