Christian Pulisic's time to shine: USMNT star must carry AC Milan's creative burden to keep Champions League dreams alive

In truth, Pulisic recovered just in time. The USMNT star missed out on the international break as he nursed an injury, and without the winger, the U.S. took care of business, moving past Trinidad & Tobago and into the Copa America next summer.

The aim always was, though, for Pulisic to be back for this first game after the international break. And, low and behold, he was named in Stefano Pioli's team for that match against Fiorentina. It wasn't a pretty game by any stretch, one won by a Theo Hernandez penalty. That penalty was set up by Pulisic, of course, as he played the ball to spring the France international in the lead up to the foul in the box.

Most importantly, though, Pulisic went 61 minutes in his return, showing that there aren't any lingering issues from his injury. So now, it's not Pulisic's fitness that Milan is worrying about. Instead, Pioli now must figure out if the American is the answer to another crisis that threatens to sink their Champions League hopes.

If you haven't seen him over the last few years, Leao is a hell of a player. The 24-year-old Portugal attacker is teetering right below that world-class level. He's a player that can, and often does, decide games in Milan's favor.

Leao, though, won't be available for Tuesday's match. The winger continues to deal with a muscle injury suffered just before the international break, and that seems likely to keep him out for at least a while longer.

That leaves Milan with a massive problem, one that likely doesn't have a solution. Last season, Leao was directly responsible for 24 goals in all competitions. The year before, he scored or assisted 20 goals. Leao is truly a game-changer, and his abilities will be sorely missed.

So, without their best player, what can Milan do? Which players will need to step up?

While Leao's absence remains the bad news, there is some good coming Milan's way. It does appear that another attacking star will be back in the line-up.

Olivier Giroud was suspended for the Fiorentina match, but is now set to re-join the XI as Milan return to the Champions League. That gives Milan their talismanic striker back, which is huge for their chances against Dortmund.

Giroud frequently finds ways to turn back the clock with Milan, with this somehow being his best season yet. He has eight goals in 16 appearance sin all competitions, with seven of those goals going along with three assists in Serie A.

On Giroud's right-hand side will be Samuel Chukwueze, more than likely. Signed from Villarreal this summer, the Nigerian star is a heck of a dribbler. However, so far with Milan, he's struggled to really create for himself or others. He has just one assist since joining the club and has not yet got on the scoresheet.

So that brings us to the left, Leao's usual spot, where a certain American will almost certainly line up...

Pulisic played on the left at Chelsea, but has largely played on the right at Milan. However, with Leao out, it'll likely be the American that will take up the Portuguese star's spot over on that left-hand side.

He'll also take over as Milan's primary dangerman, the one most likely to make something happen. Giroud is a natural finisher, no doubt, and he does have assists in his game. However, he isn't the type of player to beat teams all on his own. Chukwueze hasn't shown he can be, either. Pulisic, though, has that in his locker.

Pulisic has shown that in bunches with the USMNT and, so far, in flashes with Milan. He has four goals and two assists so far for the Rossoneri and has largely been able to make things happen both for himself and others since making the move to Italy.

Because of that, he'll be a massive key to the game for Milan, who, thus far, have struggled to score goals in the Champions League. Pulisic's ability to not just progress the ball, but make something happen afterwards, will be hugely important to Milan's attack. Without Leao, they're missing a real focal point, which opens the door for Pulisic to step in.

Pulisic, of course, will know this. He's a player that for years had to play with some level of doubt in his head. At Chelsea, he was under constant pressure to perform because, if not, the bench would call him to it.

At Milan, there's no such pressure. He's an integral figure to the team, for sure. However, he will be under a different type of pressure in this match as his team will likely need a big game from him as he stares down a very familiar opponent.

There are so many layers and scenarios to this match that, somehow, this feels like a subplot. However, after returning to Signal Iduna Park for the first time earlier in this group stage, Pulisic now holds in his hands the fate of his current club and the one that gave him his first chance in Europe.

This match, played at the San Siro, won't have the same level of emotion as Pulisic's return to Dortmund. However, there's familiarity on both sides, as Pulisic will be facing several former team-mates for a spot in the knockout rounds this week.

One of those friends will, of course, by Gio Reyna, who could have his own part to play for Dortmund having primarily been a substitue so far this season. But there are plenty of other familiar faces, like Marco Reus and Mats Hummels, on the other side.

Pulisic's performance in that return to Germany was somewhat muted, a 0-0 draw back on Matchday Two. He started and went 69 minutes, missing one big chance to score early in the second half. Who knows how many chances he'll get this time around, but there's no doubt that Pulisic and Milan need to take this one to keep their hopes alive.

Overall, it's hard to categorize Milan's Champions League run as successful or disappointing so far. One one hand, they have struggled a lot in attack. On the other, they're still alive heading into these last few matches, which is all you can really ask for in a 'Group of Death', isn't it?

As things stand, Milan sit third, one point behind PSG, two points behind Dortmund and one ahead of Newcastle. Results on Tuesday could throw this group into chaos, or it could effectively decide things when it comes to advancing to the knockout rounds.

Should Milan win, they'd control their own destiny heading into their match against Newcastle in the group stage finale. A draw would give them a chance, although they'd need to beat Newcastle and get a bit of help from Dortmund's clash with PSG. A loss, though, could be catastrophic as that, coupled with a PSG win over Newcastle, would leave that final group-stage game as a Europa League playoff.

Milan find themselves here despite scoring just two goals across their four matches. Both came in the win over PSG last time out, a huge result that put them in position to have a chance.

That's what this is: a chance. It's a chance for this team to win a massive match in front of their own fans. It's a chance for this club to continue proving that it's back to where it should be after a decade away from the top levels.

Finally, it's a chance for Pulisic to be the superstar fans in Milan and America know he can be as he steps back onto the biggest stage the game has to offer.