Americans Abroad: Christian Pulisic can't prevent Milan tailspin, Gio Reyna and Cole Campbell supersubs, Josh Sargent returns

Sergio Conceicao appeared to be onto something. With Christain Pulsiic leading the charge, Milan won the Supercoppa Italiana in Saudi Arabia, coming from behind to take down both Juventus and Inter, two of the league's elite. Surely that would give the club the momentum it needed heading into the second half of the Serie A season?

Nope. Pulisic was great once again, but there would be no momentum-building win on Saturday. Instead, it was more dropped points that continued a rough season for the Rossoneri.

In the end, Milan settled for a 1-1 draw with Cagliari, one that leaves them eighth in Serie A. The push to the Champions League was made even more difficult with Saturday's result, which resembled those that led to Paulo Fonnseca's dismissal just a few weeks ago. For whatever reason, this Milan team just hasn't been decisive enough in moments like this, and that's why they continue to lag behind the good teams in Serie A.

Pulisic isn't to blame, though. He created three chances on Saturday and had several of his own. His shot off the post led to Milan's lone goal, an Alvaro Morata rebound, and he nearly had one of his own pushed away by a solid save.

Even with that, though, Milan couldn't figure it all out, which has been a recurring theme throughout this campaign.

As they chased a game that ultimately slipped away, Borussia Dortmund turned to two Americans. Both Gio Reyna and Cole Campbell were tossed in as attacking subs with Dortmund desperate for a result.

It was a remarkable moment to see two Americans on the same field for such a big club at the same time. Ultimately, though, the comeback was never completed, as Dortmund fell 3-2 to Bayer Leverkusen.

For Reyna, you could say that the day was somewhat disappointing once again. He remains outside of the Dortmund starting XI, with Friday's match more evidence that he isn't fully trusted at Dortmund. Will anything change in January? No one seems sure yet but, even so, it seems Reyna remains a supersub and just a supersub for the German club.

As for Campbell, this was another step forward. His situation is much different than Reyna's. While Reyna is in a place where he should be an established star, Campbell is still a young player looking for meaningful minutes. He only got a few on Friday, but the fact that head coach Nuri Sahin trusted him enough to put him into such a desperate situation does show that they have some faith in the youngster.

Both Reyna and Campbell were key substitutes at a time in which Dortmund needed them, but both came on with very different wants and needs in their careers at the moment. Both are players to keep an eye on in the coming months.

Josh Sargent is back, and that's very good news. Unfortunately for everyone else wearing Norwich colors on Saturday, the actual match he returned to was anything but.

The Canaries were already totally buried by the time Sargent was tossed in as a 79th-minute substitute. They'd been smashed by Brighton, who ran away as 4-0 winners. Sargent's appearance, at that point, was more ceremonial; there was nothing he was going to do to really turn things around.

Sargent didn't get to do much in his 11-minute runout. He completed his lone pass and that was about it. Even so, it was positive for the striker, who has been dealing with far too many injuries over the last few years. His latest came in October, keeping him out right up through Saturday's return.

The striker is very much still in the USMNT's No. 9 race, which continues to evolve. While Ricardo Pepi continues to score, Folarin Balogun, like Sargent, has missed significant time due to injury. Now healthy, Sargent knows he'll have to start scoring again soon, particularly if he wants to make a case by March.

For now, though, the first priority is finding his feet. He got 11 minutes of playing time on Saturday and, now that he's back in the team, he'll look to get back to that good form again as that fitness and confidence returns.

Since arriving in Germany, Joe Scally and Borussia Monchengladbach have always given Bayern Munich headaches. Scally actually debuted in this fixture back in 2021, helping hold Bayern to a 1-1 draw. Since Scally joined the club, Gladbach had been 3-2-2.

There was no upset this time around, though. Instead, Bayern escaped BORUSSIA-PARK with the narrowest of wins, and you just know they'll exhale a bit given their recent history in this match.

It was just a 1-0 win for Bayern, with the match decided by a 68th-minute Harry Kane penalty kick. Bayern, of course, created plenty of chances, outshooting Gladbach 23-5, but in the end, it was just that run-up from Kane that made the difference.

Scally played his part. Matched up to face both Leroy Sane and Alphonso Davies, Scally was never going to have an easy day at the office. He won six of his nine duels, though, and was dribbled past just once while earning a yellow card. He was given a tough test, the toughest the Bundesliga can throw at you, and, by and large, he stood strong.

The American defender has been playing at this level for quite a while. His defensive prowess has never been in doubt. Now, as Sergino Dest returns from long-term injury, a new USMNT right-back race awaits him, one where Scally has even more experience under his belt.

Richy Ledezma had a hell of a game, making a key goalline clearance. Luuk De Jong had a good day, too, scoring two goals to save PSV. Otherwise, though, it was a tough day at the office for a team that has been near-perfect in the Eredivisie.

De Jong's goals were just enough in PSV's 2-2 draw with AZ Alkmaar. This wasn't a typical PSV performance by any stretch, though. Twice they went behind, and twice they relied on De Jong to drag them back.

USMNT's Malik Tillman, so influential in the PSV midfield usually, struggled a bit. He completed just 25 of his 33 passes and created just one chance. More crucially, he lost 10 of his 12 duels, as he just wasn't up to speed. It was an unusual performance from a player who has been so, so good since making the move to PSV.

As for Ricardo Pepi, the American was once again on the bench, despite all of the hype about a potential transfer. He came on late, but could only watch on as De Jong, the player still ahead of him on the depth chart, had one of his better performances of the season. Pepi continues to push De Jong but, at least on Saturday, De Jong pushed back.

They won't have long to rest on it, with an upcoming clash with Excelsior. That's probably a good thing, too, as PSV look to bounce back from one of the few bad results of their season.

+ USMNT duo Chris Richards and Matt Turner played 90 minutes for Crystal Palace in a tidy 1-0 FA Cup win over Stockport. Turner had a couple of saves to make in just his second start of the season.

+ Juventus found themselves on the end of a familiar result: a draw. The Old Lady finished level, 1-1, with Torino, with Weston McKennei starting at left-back and Timothy Weah coming off the bench as a second-half sub.

+ A huge performance from Tyler Adams and Bournemouth as the Cherries rolled past West Brom in a 5-1 FA Cup win. Adams was fantastic in midfield for Bournemouth as he won the most tackles and duels of any player in the match while also providing a hockey assist on one of the goals.

+ James Sands' push to return to the USMNT has brought him to St. Pauli in the Bundesliga, and the midfielder/defender took his first step with his new club on Saturday. He came on as a substitute, but couldn't help his new side find points from a 1-0 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.

+ Johnny Cardoso and Real Betis settled for a tough La Liga loss as they fell 1-0 to Real Valladolid. Cardoso went all 90 minutes and picked up a second-half yellow card in the defeat.

+ Tanner Tessmann was given a huge opportunity with Lyon, but he didn't quite seize it. The American started in a 2-1 loss to Brest and was OK but uninsipring in the defeat.

+ Another day, another win for Celtic and their USMNT duo. Auston Trusty and Cameron Carter-Vickers started together again in a 4-1 win over Ross County, with the lone goal conceded coming from a penalty.

+ No Lennard Maloney in the Heidenheim squad as the transfer links to Mainz continue to swirl. Even without him, Heidenheim earned a 2-0 win over Jordan Pefok and Union Berlin.

+ A much-needed win for Marlon Fossey and Standard Liege as they push for a spot in the Championship Playoffs in Belgium. Fossey went all 90 minutes in a 1-0 win over struggling Kortijk that keeps his side in the hunt. with nine games remaining.

+ Both Bryan Reynolds and Griffin Yow put in solid shifts on the right-hand side, but Westerlo still fell to St. Truiden, 2-1. GOAL confirmed that both Reynolds and Yow have been the subject of bids to start this January transfer window.

+ Gianluca Busio played a role, but couldn't prevent another disappointing result as Venezia lost 1-0 to Inter on Sunday. The Serie A strugglers are now five points away from safety, and have won just one of their last five.

+ U.S. youth international Noahkai Banks, 18, made his senior debut for Bundesliga side Augsburg on Sunday, subbing on in the 29th minute due to an injury to Maximilian Bauer against Stuttgart. Banks, a central defender, is a dual-national for the U.S. and Germany, but has appeared at the U17, U19 and U20 levels for the USYNT.