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 two also made history in the process.
Weah played a perfect cross into his USMNT teammate in the second half of Juve’s 2-0 win over City, 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 snapped 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 year’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 the elder McKennie talked about the challenges of being an American and playing for a top team in Europe.
“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.”
Thiago Motta was full of praise for McKennie after the game and said he brings numerous qualities to his team every time he steps on the field.
“Weston can do everything,” the Juventus coach 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 beaten Man City each of the last three times the teams met, and snapped the Premier League champions record of six straight games unbeaten against Italian teams.
