United States internationals Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah were a big part of the reason Juventus toppled Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The duo also made history in the process.
Weah played a perfect cross to his USMNT teammate in the second half of Juve’s 2-0 win over City in Turin, Italy, and when McKennie buried an exquisite side volley past Éderson, the two became the first Americans to connect for a goal and assist in Champions League history.
“It was a big moment for the team with the situation we have been in,” McKennie said after the match. “We wanted to come out and do the best we could. We knew Man City could punish us with one action and we knew what type of game it was going to be and we wanted to win this game to boost our confidence.”
The result ended a string of four straight draws for Juventus, who are in sixth place in Serie A, and it kept them on track to reach the knockout phase of this season’s revamped Champions League with 11 points and a spot in 14th place in the table.
Weah and McKennie have both been part of the U.S. senior side since 2018, and have played a combined 73 games together for club and country. After the game, McKennie talked about the challenges of being an American and playing for a top team in Europe as the pair battle for minutes at Juventus.
“Being an American, being over here, it’s something you deal with, but I like it,” McKennie said. “I like when people doubt me, and sometimes I play my best football when people doubt me.”
McKennie has only five starts in the Italian league this season, scoring one goal, but Juventus coach Thiago Motta said the midfielder brings unique qualities to the team.
“Weston can do everything,” Motta said after the game. “He has unusual physicality, but also great technique, knows when to time his runs and can be even more dangerous when he comes in from behind, as we saw today and against PSV Eindhoven.
“We are fortunate to have players with these qualities, because he can give us different alternatives during a match. I am happy for him and all the players this evening.”
Juventus have now defeated Man City in each of the past three meetings, and ended the Premier League champions record of six straight games unbeaten against Italian teams.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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