AC Milan's Christian Pulisic scores Champions League goal on direct corner kick; Rafa Leao struggles continue

It has been an outstanding start of the season for American international Christian Pulisic who scored again in the UEFA Champions League home game against Club Brugge. The AC Milan star opened the score against the Belgian team straight from a corner in the first half of the match at San Siro, scoring his seventh goal of the season in all competitions. The Rossoneri managed to win 3-1 and won their first game of the Champions League's campaign after losing against Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen. 

Pulisic had an incredibly positive start of the 2024-25 season as he has already scored seven goals and provided three assists in the 11 games he played so far between Serie A and Champions League soccer. At the European level, the former Chelsea winger has already scored two goals, including the one against Liverpool in the 3-1 defeat at San Siro in the Champions League's debut. 

Take a look at the stunner he scored against Club Brugge: 

Despite a difficult start for AC Milan under new manager Paulo Fonseca, Pulisic has been the best player of the team so far as he is the first player to record a goal contribution in seven consecutive league matches in the top five European leagues this season, according to Opta. Pulisic started in all 11 games he played and has scored in four consecutive Serie A games for Milan, becoming the first USMNT player to do so in a top-five European league since Queens Park Rangers' Roy Wegerle in 1990. 

While Pulisic continues to shine, Rafael Leao's struggles are not going away. After being benched for the whole game over the weekend against Udinese, the Portuguese winger started the Champions League's clash on Tuesday but then he was subbed off at minute 60 while the game was still 1-1. One minute after he left the pitch, the Rossoneri scored their second goal thanks to an individual action of the player who replaced him, Noah Okafor, who provided the assist to Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders. 

Leao looked a bit lost on the pitch and also disappointed when he was replaced in the second half, as the Rossoneri fans at San Siro whistled him. The Portuguese winger was walking on the sideline as he was going back to the bench in the moment of Milan scoring the second goal, and celebrated quietly. Then, when the referee whistled the end of the 3-1 win against Club Brugge, Leao quickly ran into the dressing room. It's clear that he's not living his best moment at the club, but manager Fonseca showed that this team can also achieve results without their star. It's now just up to Leao to show his qualities and bring back his leadership at the service of the team, as others such as American star Pulisic is doing game after game.