Europe’s Super Bowl kicks off at noon Pacific time tomorrow, May 29. For only the third time in the history of the competition, two English sides will play each other for the chance to be crowned champions of Europe. The UEFA Champions League final is a game that every footballer dreams of playing in as a kid, and is dwarfed in importance only by (probably) the World Cup final that happens every four years. The players of Manchester City and Chelsea will want to add their names to the annals of football history tomorrow in Porto, Portugal.
There are tons of storylines to analyze here just like with any massive matchup between two massive clubs, but all you really need to know is that City are vying for their first European Cup and Chelsea are trying to win their second one. The clubs finished 1st and 4th in the Premier League respectively, and most pundits are probably giving the edge to City given their excellent strength in depth. Manager Pep Guardiola has been trying to win another European Cup for the better part of a decade, having last won it with Barcelona in 2011. Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was in the final last year with Paris St. Germain, but lost to German side Bayern Munich.
However, my readers are overwhelmingly American, so I’d like to focus on a more American storyline. For the first time ever, there is an American playing for each side in a CL final, and one of them has a very good chance of becoming the first American to ever score in a Champions League final. City have backup goalkeeper Zack Steffen, while Chelsea have attacking midfielder and wunderkind Christian Pulisic. Steffen likely will not get on the pitch barring an injury to starting City keeper Ederson, but Pulisic has a very legitimate chance of not only playing but also starting and scoring. He reaches milestones for Americans in European football every time he steps on the pitch, but it would be truly remarkable if he became the first American to score in a CL final. As I have written before, Pulisic is the most naturally-talented American player I have ever seen. There have been good American players before in England such as Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, and of course Landon Donovan; but all of them pale in comparison to Pulisic. He is fast, has a ton of lateral quickness, and is a nightmare to deal with when dribbling. His passing and decision making are sometimes suspect, but there are few players better on the ball in the open field. He runs circles around guys until there’s an opening for a shot, and he’s usually on-target.
Of course it is entirely possible that neither of them gets on the pitch, given that Steffen is a backup and Pulisic has competition for his place in the starting XI from England midfielder Mason Mount, but having Americans even just on the bench is huge for the US Men’s National Team. The CL final is the pinnacle of club footballing competition on this planet, both in terms of physical talent and the tactical nous required to be successful. In any sport you want your players playing at the highest possible level, and having not only one but two Americans in this match is vital for their development and experience. If Pulisic can play well in a CL final, then all of a sudden a World Cup qualifier against Honduras or Nicaragua becomes a lot less daunting. Same for Steffen – if he can stop a shot on goal from world-class Man City players like Kevin de Bruyne or Sergio Aguero, then everything else he faces after that becomes a lot easier to handle because he would have a better idea of what to expect and prepare for.
Pulisic and Steffen are part of a crop of promising young American players, many of whom are playing for big clubs in Europe. In addition to those two, there is also Weston McKennie (Juventus), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Sergiño Dest (Barcelona), Tim Weah (Lille), and Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig) to name a few. All of these Americans playing for these big clubs in Europe is fantastic for their development and experience. It may be a tad too soon for the USMNT to challenge at the 2022 World Cup, as all of these guys are still in their early 20s or younger and don’t have a ton of playing experience yet. However, all of these opportunities for Americans at big clubs is priming Team USA for a World Cup run in 2026. Conveniently, venues in North America will be hosting that tournament for a bit of home-field advantage. If the Americans can find themselves a manager with a tactical plan that serves the strengths of all these young and dynamic guys, the Americans will be among the favorites to win it. The will only get better over time, assuming they keep playing at very high-profile clubs such as City, Barcelona, and Juventus that routinely challenge in Europe. I know the Americans have struggled recently due to internal drama at the US Soccer Federation and coaching changes, but the talent appears to be coming together nicely.
So while tomorrow is not the be-all and end-all for Pulisic and Steffen, every American should tune in to watch and see how the two are developing. A big performance from Pulisic should encourage Americans to be enthusiastic and optimistic about the national team for the first time in awhile. Americans who don’t routinely follow the game often dream of beating Europeans at their own sport, and that just may happen in 2026 if the players keep developing as they are. History calls for both of them tomorrow though, and Pulisic may just be the one who answers.
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