GOAL reviews the major takeaways from Americans playing in Europe, including milestone goals and promotion celebrations
The European season is coming to an end. In fact, for several U.S. men's national team stars playing abroad, it ended this weekend. For those that continue to play on, though, the heat is being turned up as races tighten across the game's top leagues.
In England, it was all to play for in the Championship, and Brenden Aaronson and Leeds left with the ultimate prize: the title. He wasn't the only American celebrating after the league's final games of the season. Daryl Dike's season is over, but it ended with a feel-good goal that has been a long-time coming. Haji Wright's season, meanwhile, will continue as the forward helped his team push into the playoff for Premier League promotion.
The race is tight at the top of Serie A, too. While Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah and Milan won't take the field until Monday, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Juventus earned a good-but-not-great result. They entered the weekend one point ahead of Bologna, and there they'll stay after a 1-1 draw that Sunday in which they wasted a 1-0 lead. Now, the top-four race in Serie A has tightened even more, with teams four through eight all separated by four points.
Bigger games are ahead, and the stage is being set for final weeks of the campaign.
GOAL looks at the major takeaways from this weekend's Americans Abroad.
Getty Images SportWright leads Coventry's Premier League push
The Championship season is over, but not for Haji Wright. Coventry City are playoff-bound, and that means Wright is set for the biggest matches of his club career.
Everyone knows the stakes that come from the promotion playoff. A spot in the Premier League is the prize, but this is about so much more than that. The money is astronomical. The boost to reputation is, too. Players can change the course of their clubs, and their lives, over the course of just a few games.
Wright and Coventry had some work to do to even get into the playoff, as they went into the final week knowing they needed a result. They got it, taking down fellow hopefuls Middlesbrough, 2-0, to set up what's to come. Coventry will now look ahead to two legs against Sunderland in the coming days as they look to push to the Premier League.
In many ways, Wright has proven he belongs. Despite playing 16 fewer games than second-leading scorer Jack Rudoni, Wright finished atop the club's goalscoring charts with 12 in 27 matches. It's the type of haul that can elevate a player to a higher level, whether that comes with Coventry or elsewhere.
We'll find out soon enough where Coventry will be playing next season. Can they survive the high-stakes playoff to get Premier League soccer and all that comes with it? Or will they be one of the three teams to miss out on those riches? Wright will be key, no doubt, as the club heads into some of the biggest games in the world.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportMcKennie and Juve waste opportunity
On Saturday, reports emerged that Weston McKennie is set to commit to Juventus for the long-haul. That commitment will come with a well-deserved pay raise, but it will also likely come with an understanding that, while McKennie may be locked in, change is coming.
How much change? That will depend on the next few weeks. It didn't get much clearer on Sunday, as Juventus settled for a 1-1 draw with Bologna. Both teams are among those fighting for a top-four spot, and that fight is even tighter than before with this weekend's results. Juventus still hold onto fourth, but that hold is shaky with Roma, Lazio, Bolgoa and Fiorentina all lurking heading into these final three games.
McKennie started for Juve, as he so often has this season. Playing in a more advanced midfield position, he created multiple chances and had some good moments in the final-third. He also did his work defensively, making several plays to help Juve initially protect their early lead. He was joined in the XI by Tim Weah, who had a quieter game, but was decent at his wingback spot.
Sunday will feel like two points dropped, though. Juventus had a chance to put some real separation between themselves and the teams chasing them. Instead, one slip-up could be the difference between a Champions League spot or missing out on Europe entirely.
The club is walking on a tightrope, and McKennie, Weah and Co. will need to get things right over these final few weeks to keep them balanced.
Getty Images SportDike's feel-good moment
No one deserved a moment like this more than Daryl Dike. Given all he's fought through and, more specifically, come back from, he's more than earned it. Saturday's goal won't make it all worth it – nothing ever will – but it certainly marks a return towards normalcy for a player who has been sidelined far too long.
On Saturday, Dike scored his first goal since January 2024, helping close West Brom's season with a win over Luton Town. Making his first – and only – start of the season, Dike headed home in the first half to mark his long-awaited comeback.
Over the last few years, Dike has been plagued by multiple injuries, including two separate Achilles tears. You could see the weight of all of that on his face the moment the ball hit the back of the net.
"When you have an injury like that," Dike said, "especially the second time around, all the things you think are like 'Is it going to happen again?' Am I going to be the same?' But with training sessions the last few months and games like today, it pushes a little bit of that today and shows I can still do it and be confident in myself."
Dike can carry that feeling into summer one that, for the first time in a few years, won't all be centered on rehabilitation. Dike will be working to make sure he's ready and fit for next season, one that will hopefully see him get back to his best.
"I want about six more games now," he said, "but there's another year next year so let's get going."
Getty Images SportCelebrations and lessons for Aaronson
It hasn't always been easy for Brenden Aaronson, to put it lightly. The last few years have been challenging and have forced the American midfielder to reckon with some very tough questions. Those doubts are still in the air, particularly after he was left out of the USMNT's CONCACAF Nations League squad.
This weekend, then, will have been a reward for all of those difficult moments. Aaronson and Leeds already knew they were going up to the Premier League but, on Saturday, they made sure they'd go up in style.
Thanks to a late a last-gasp goal from Manor Solomon, Leeds earned a 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle that officially claimed the Championship title. The celebrations were emphatic and they were deserved.
Leeds earned their place as the Championship's best from start to finish, and it took them just about every second of this season to prove that fact. Aaronson played his part. He finished the season as Leeds' fourth-leading scorer with nine in the Championship.
A turbulent start to 2025, ultimately, prevented him from running up that total after a strong close to 2024. Still, this was a good year for Aaronson, one that provided both lessons and celebrations in equal measure.
