One goal and one assist, enough to make people forget the big chance wasted at the end of the Parma match. The game against Entella was only a friendly, but Christian Pulisic sent a clear signal to Milan fans before the derby. Captain America is back at full strength.
During the last international break in October, Pulisic picked up a low-grade injury to his right flexor while playing for the United States. The injury came when he was leading the Serie A scoring chart, despite his missed penalty against Juventus a few hours before flying to the US. Without him for about a month, Milan stayed near the top of the table, but the drop in attacking quality was obvious. His absence lined up, fortunately for Massimiliano Allegri, with Rafael Leao’s full return from a calf problem. The two have not started a match together since the first game of the season in the Coppa Italia against Bari in mid-August. First Leao stopped, then Pulisic, who only returned for a short spell in the final minutes in Parma. On November 23, the derby will finally bring back the Pulisic-Leao duo, writes La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Yesterday, late in the friendly with Entella, Pulisic took a rough tackle and stayed on the ground for about ten seconds, which scared some fans. No issue. He played the full match and is focused on Inter, a team he hurt often last season. After losing his first two Milan derbies in 2023-24, he went unbeaten in the next five, winning three and scoring twice. One goal came in Riyadh in the Supercoppa, during the 3-2 win that gave Milan the first trophy of the RedBird era and contributed, as Milan fans like to point out, to Simone Inzaghi’s season without silverware.
The match in eight days will not decide the title race, but it will be a key step for Milan. Pulisic knows the target and does not hide. “The title is our goal, but I do not want to think about what happens if we do not win,” he told CBS in a long interview. “We take it match by match, then we will be judged. I have lived seasons without trophies where my team still did good things. When you win the title, it means your work paid off.”
Pulisic, together with Milan and the US federation, chose to use this international break to regain full fitness after the injury. “I did not feel it was right to go to the national team and play my first match after recovering,” he said. “I want to make sure I take proper care of myself and check that my hamstring is fine, and let others play in my place. So I think this was the best choice for everyone. Things were going well at the start of the season. Stopping was frustrating, but now I am back.”
Christian is thinking ahead too. He is 27 but is already looking at Luka Modric as a model. "I want to keep playing as long as possible like him," he said. "I see him in the dressing room and think, this guy is 40 and delivers top performances. I wonder how he does it. I hope I manage to follow his example."
