Newcastle demolish PSG - Pulisic becomes first USMNT to reach 50 UCL games

There were no goals between Borussia Dortmund and Milan on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League, and Christian Pulisic came off after 69 minutes to be replaced by Samuel Chukwueze. But Pulisic still managed to write history. The 25-year-old becomes the first US men’s national team player to record 50 games in the Champions League. 

Pulisic ranks ahead of Weston McKennie (24 games) and Jermaine Jones (23 games). But while Jones has retired, McKennie doesn’t feature in the UCL this season. That means within the top ten, only Sergiño Dest (22 games, PSV Eindhoven) and Giovanni Reyna (16 games, Dortmund) can make up ground this season. Pulisic, in the meantime, is also the USMNT player with the most goals in the competition (seven). 

Pulisic wasn’t the only player to write history on Wednesday. Barcelona's Lamine Yamal (16 years and 83 days) became the youngest player to start a Champions League match, beating the record of Celestine Babayaro (16 years and 86 days) for Anderlecht against Steaua in November 1994 (1-1). Yamal became the second youngest player in UCL history when he was brought on in the 5-0 win over Anderlecht on matchday 1. The youngest player in Champions League history remains Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko. The German helped Dortmund beat Zenit 2-1 on Dec. 8, 2020.

Back after 20 years - Newcastle United demolish PSG to mark historic victory 

After a 20-year wait, football returned to St. James Park, and Newcastle United put on an incredible show. Miguel Almiron (17') and Dan Burn (39') scored in the first half. Sean Longstaff (50') made it 3-0 before Lucas Hernández (56') pulled one back, with Fabian Schär (91') putting the cherry on top. The 4-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain is Newcastle United’s biggest win in the competition (overview). For PSG, in turn, it was the biggest defeat in the Champions League since losing 6-1 to Barcelona in the second leg of the round of 16 on Mar. 8, 2017.