Christian Pulisic of AC Milan. Photo by Fabrizio Carabelli/IPA Sport/ipa-agency.net/IPA/Sipa USA

Christian Pulisic, AC Milan eliminated from Champions League in shock upset

By Alyssa Clang | Last updated Feb 18, 2025 3:49 PM ET

U.S. Men's National Team stars Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah's 2024-25 Champions League run is over.

Their club team, Italy's AC Milan, found itself on the wrong end of a 2-1 aggregate playoff defeat to the Netherlands' Feyenoord on Tuesday. The shock upset eliminates Milan from the Champions League before the knockout stages of the tournament.

Pulisic started both legs of the Feyenoord playoff and set up Mexican striker Santiago Gimenez for Milan's only goal of the series. Musah started the second leg in place of French midfielder Youssouf Fofana.

While Pulisic and Musah looked impressive for Milan, they were let down by uncharacteristic errors from their teammates. The first leg was decided when French goalkeeper Mike Maignan spilled a shot from winger Igor Paixao to gift Feyenoord a 1-0 win.

The second leg revolved around Maignan's countryman Theo Hernandez. He received a yellow card in the first half for a silly shirt pull, then earned a red for a simulated dive in Feyenoord's penalty box.

Hernandez's dismissal changed Milan's shape — Musah, in particular, was forced to retreat into a left back position to cover for him — and kept it from fighting for the tie.

In brighter news for American soccer fans, Feyenoord's decisive goal was scored by ex-Philadelphia Union winger Julian Carranza. Carranza joined Feyenoord from the Union last summer on a four-year deal. He racked up 37 goals and 15 assists for the Union in 115 regular-season appearances before leaving Major League Soccer and remains one of the Union's best all-time players.

AC Milan will focus the rest of its season on improving its standing in Italy's Serie A; it's currently seventh, one place outside of Italy's automatic European qualification spots for 2025-26.

Feyenoord will advance to face either Arsenal or Inter Milan in the Round of 16 of the Champions League.

Alyssa Clang

Alyssa is a Boston-born Californian with a passion for global sport. She can yell about misplaced soccer passes in five languages and rattle off the turns of Silverstone in her sleep. You can find her dormant Twitter account at @alyssaclang, but honestly, you’re probably better off finding her here

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