There will be at least three Americans facing each other in this Champions League season with Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan drawn into the same group.
That means that we’ll get a matchup between USA teammates Gio Reyna of Dortmund and Milan’s Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah.
Unfortunately for them, they’ll be tasked with trying to make it out of a pure Group of Death – with Milan and Dortmund drawn against PSG and Newcastle United.
At least two Americans are set to feature in their respective sides’ first ever Champions League campaigns, meanwhile others could make it out of their groups based on how the draw played out.
Pulisic and Musah have both recently made moves to Milan this summer from Chelsea and Valencia respectively.
Musah moved out of Spain after Los Che had an awful campaign with the American midfielder making a return to Italy – where he spent a significant part of his childhood.
As for Pulisic, this Champions League marks yet another chance to re-acquaint himself with his former Bundesliga employer.
Just last season, Pulisic played against Dortmund when Chelsea drew them in the Round of 16. After Dortmund pulled out a 1-0 win in the first leg, the Blues were able to pull out a 2-0 victory to advance in the following match.
Gio Reyna didn’t feature in the first game, but came on in just the fifth minute after Julian Brandt picked up a serious injury.
Both of these teams will have tough contests outside of the two times they’ll face off.
Paris Saint-Germain may be going through a transition after the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar, but Kylian Mbappe remains in place.
Meanwhile, they’ll also be facing off against Newcastle United for the first time since the 2003-04 season where they were knocked out before the group stage in the qualifiers.
Cameron Carter-Vickers will lead Celtic in Group E against Feyenoord, Atletico, and Lazio
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Union Berlin will make its debut in the Champions League – with Brenden Aaronson involved
Royal Antwerp will also be making their debut – and will feature fullback Sam Vines
But of course, Musah, Pulisic, and Reyna are not the only Americans competing in the Champions League – with six other teams boasting USMNT players on their roster.
A trio of Sergiño Dest, Ricardo Pepi, and Malik Tillman could all feature for PSV in Group B against the likes of Europa League winners Sevilla, Arsenal, and RC Lens.
With the loan of Jordan Pefok to Borussia Monchengladbach on Thursday morning, Brenden Aaronson is now the only American playing for Champions League debutants Union Berlin.
Aaronson will join Die Eisernen in their maiden voyage through Europe’s toughest waters in Group C against Italian champions Napoli as well as Real Madrid and Braga.
Cameron Carter-Vickers will help to lead the backline of Celtic into Group E against Dutch champions Feyenoord as well as Atletico Madrid and Lazio.
Sam Vines, who just missed out on the World Cup squad, will also help his squad in their debut in this competition as his club Royal Antwerp compete against Barcelona, Porto, and Shakhtar Donetsk
Two other Americans – Caden Clark (L) of RB Leipzig and Zack Steffen (R) of Manchester City – are on teams that qualified for the Champions League, but they’re not likely to be involved
Two other Americans are on teams that have been drawn into the Champions League against each other – but both are not likely to be full-time players.
Zack Steffen is currently a backup goalkeeper on reigning title winners Manchester City and Caden Clark, who has yet to feature for the first team, plays for RB Leipzig.
In addition to each other, City and Leipzig will play Red Star and BSC Young Boys.
