Christian Pulisic was named in the starting XI for AC Milan in a preseason loss to Real Madrid at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Sunday night.
The match ended 3-2 in favor of Madrid after a second-half comeback by the LaLiga giants, but Pulisic played well over 71 minutes and assisted on Fikayo Tomori’s opening goal from a corner kick before being replaced by Rafael Leao.
Milan led 2-0 at half-time, but Carlo Ancelotti made a host of changes at the break and Federico Valverde got Madrid back in the game with a pair of well-taken goals before Vinicius Junior sealed the win with a late strike.
The 24-year-old officially joined Milan from Chelsea on June 13, after spending four seasons in the Premier League with the Stamford Bridge outfit.
He took the field alongside his teammates at the iconic venue as Milan kick off their preseason tour of the U.S., which includes matches against Juventus on Thursday and Barcelona on Aug. 1, before beginning Serie A play away to Bologna on Aug. 21.
Pulisic also played for Milan on July 20 in a scrimmage against Serie D side Lumezzane, but this was his first action against top-level European competition in the Rossoneri colors.
Stefano Pioli’s Milan followed up a Serie A winning campaign in 2021-22 with a fourth-place finish in the league last season, while also reaching the semifinals of the Champions League before losing to city rivals Inter.
Pulisic becomes the third American to play for Milan after defender Oguchi Onyewu and Sergiño Dest, who spent last season on loan at the San Siro from Barcelona.
Milan — owned by American investment firm RedBird Capital Partners — are seven-time European champions.
Pulisic moved to Chelsea in a €64 million deal in 2018 from Borussia Dortmund but was hampered by injuries. He made 145 appearances across four seasons at Stamford Bridge, during which he was a part of the club’s Champions League-winning side in 2021.
During that time, Pulisic starred at the international level, twice guiding the USMNT to win the Concacaf Nations League, as well as helping lead the side to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup.
His playing time at Chelsea had become increasingly limited as the club signed several attacking players in the past year, including Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling and Christopher Nkunku.
Pulisic joins former Chelsea teammate Ruben Loftus-Cheek at Milan and becomes the 14th senior player to leave Chelsea since the end of last season.
