I did record and watch the classico (Barca - Real Madrid match) since it was on a channel everyone gets. I won't comment on it much since you already know what I'm going to say, sluggo. Both are teams with tremendously talented players, of course. The team that was more disciplined and fundamentally sound on defense won (same was true when Spain beat France in this past summer's World Cup).
Too many matches over the weekend with US players to review them all, but I'll cover most of them, other than the Friday ones, which I already did upthread. You (sluggo) already highlighted three of them in which Pulisic, Mckennie and Weah all scorred, so I'll just mention those briefly. But first:
The standout performance for me was none of those three, but rather once again ALEX FREEMAN, who was all over the pitch in Villareal's come-from-behind 2-1 road La Liga win at Valencia. Freeman started at left back with Mourino at right back, then swapped spots with Mourino to start the second half, and by the end of the match, was playing something like a straight right attacking "10" (or at least box-to-box "8"). Crazy match, as it was 10 v 10 at the end after two red cards.
Freeman led Villareal in duels won, generally made good decisions (I counted 3 bad ones, but countless solid to great ones) and was strong with the ball. He should have had an assist. And of course he scored the tying goal on a header (during live play, NOT off a set piece). Valencia's first half goal was on a penalty, which Freeman was not at fault for conceding. I don't know if Freeman was man of the match, but he should be.
Aside: I actually watched this entire match (Valencia - Villareal) streaming on my phone on ESPN Deportes Saturday morning, pausing and switching to watch Cal Football at SMU, then pausing that and switching back and so on. I eventually reached halftime in the Cal game with no buffer left on my DVR, so I switched entirely to watching Freeman until the match was over and had a shower. After my shower, before watching the second half of the Cal game on my DVR, I cheated and snuck a peek at the current score. SMU had already outscored Cal something like 28-0 in the second half. The amazing thing is I felt more relieved than sad. SMU had saved me the bother and time of watching the rest of the Cal game, and I just went to my DVR and deleted it. I can't remember a time I have been so apathetic about Cal Football since before I was a student nearly 40 years ago, and it's all happened in the past two months. Honestly, the Valencia - Villareal match was more compelling, between a bottom-table La Liga side, and a mid-table one, mainly due to Freeman.
Ok, now back to AC Milan and Christian Pulisic, who won easily 2-0 (xG was 3.12 - 0.42) on the road at bottom-table Serie A foe Udinese. In addition to scoring a sweet early goal after a great run behind and great control once Modric found him, Pulisic could have easily had one or two assists, and was generally dangerous throughout the match from the highlights. Hope to see this more consistently from him, and against better opponents. Yunus Musah came in at minute 73 and by one report, was neither impressive nor unimpressive (no major mistakes).
By contrast, Weston Mckennie's goal in Juventus' 2-0 road win at Serie A foe Lecce was not nearly as pretty but I'll take it. Nor was the match as dominant a win as Milan's. But Mckennie being fit and making goal contributions is a welcome sight. I would love it if Balogun could be traded to join him as I'm not sold on Juve's current beanpole "car lot inflatable air dancer" striker Woltemade.
And Tim Weah's goal in Marseille's 4-3 home win against Ligue 1 doormat Le Havre was somewhere in between - stumbling, almost tripping over the ball, but still dribbling past three players and lunging it in off the outside of his foot. Filippo at Tactical Manager youtube called it a "sloppy golasso."
Gio Reyna played the first 84 minutes of Strasbourg's 3-0 road loss at Ligue 1 opponent Rennes, though by all accounts, while no one on Strasbourg played great, Reyna was not the problem. He led Strasbourg in duels won and generally was doing the usual Gio Reyna things. Glad he seems to be healthy.
Malik Tillman subbed in at minute 41 of Bayer Leverkusen's 3-0 road loss at Bundesliga opponent Hoffenheim, and while he did NOT play particularly well, it was a team-wide problem by one account. Still, Tillman needs to pick it up for Leverkusen. He used to be a guy that would play well for club (like with PSV) and not for country, and now it seems like it's the other way around!
Chris Richards played the whole match at right-center back in a back 3 for Crystal Palace in their 2-0 Premier League home loss to Newcastle. I don't think either goal was his fault, but still not a good season so far for Richards and Palace. Zavier Gozo not even the bench. I think he's with their U-21s.
Antonee "Jedi" Robinson played the whole match at left back in Fulham's 1-0 road win at Coventry.
Folarin Balogun once again came off the bench (minute 58) in Monaco's 2-2 Ligue 1 home draw with Toulouse, who had Mark Mckenzie play the whole match at left-center back in a back 4. Have not watched highlights or heard/read commentary on this one, but it feels like Balogun should have taken the Everton deal. Monaco have their starting striker in Brunner, and Balogun almost seems third choice, with Monaco not seeming to care that they are letting him drop in value as a tradeable asset. Balogun really does need a trade in January (maybe to Juventus with Mckennie as I said, which would be nice).
Tyler Adams and Bournemouth humiliated Manchester United in a 3-0 Premier League road win.
Sergino Dest played the entire match at right back in PSV Endhoven's 1-1 home draw against 1st place Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredivisie. Ricardo Pepi is still injured and did not make the bench.
Diego Kochen played the entire match at goalkeeper in Lyngby's 3-2 road loss to league "power" Midtjylland in the Danish Superliga. Stats say he made 4 saves. Have not heard/read any commentary on how Kochen looked and whether any of the goals he let in were easily preventable.
Santiago Castaneda played the entire match at the "6" holding midfielder position in Paderborn's 1-0 Bundesliga home win over Hamburg. Again, did not watch the highlights or hear/read commentary, but this is a fairly young player who might be worth starting to pay attention to, especially if it's true that he can play center back as well. It sucks he is just 2 months too old for the 2028 U-23 Olympic age cutoff.
Tanner Tessmann played the entire match in Lyon's 2-0 Ligue 1 road loss at PSG. Sacrificial lamb?
Mathis Albert and Johnny Cardoso are out with apparently short term injuries for Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid respectively, and Auston Trusty is on leave from Glasgow Celtic (father passed away).
Ok, moving from Europe to the MLS:
Philadelphia Union hosting New England was actually a great match from a competitive perspective despite the absence of Cavan Sullivan due to injury. Neil Pierre had a mixed game, scoring on a header late to pull Philly within 2-1 (which is how it ended), but also conceded a penalty at the very outer edge of the box. I do disagree with you a bit sluggo - I think Pierre's path matters. There are things he can and hopefully will improve on, and he can do so better at a mid-tier Euro team (say on loan from a top Euro team) like at the top end of the Dutch Eredivise or Belgian or Portuguese leagues that also have Champions League or Europa Cup matches. Mainly, I would like to see Pierre improve his on-ball decision-making and his judiciousness on when to go for a heavy challenge in the box. I think he can learn these things with competitive playing time (MLS barely qualifies as that, because MLS matches are not as competitive as say, Europa Cup matches).
Peyton Miller had a good game for New England, though definitely not a great one. Miller played the whole match at left wing-back in a 4-2-3-1 where he will play for the US instead of left wing as he has been doing for NE. He got an assist on what I think was a shot, but still a great play to use his quickness to get inside position on Frankie Westfield on a long cross for a twisting header that was headed across goal just past the far (right) post before NE's striker Turgeman arrived and redirected it in. Miller had a couple other good moments and decent shots, but not good enough to finish. His defense overall was not bad, though he and another NE defender did get posterized on the Pierre goal even though they were double-teaming him, looking like schoolkids trying to outjump a grown man.
As sluggo linked above, Adri Mehmeti controlled the match well for Red Bull New York in their crucial (for RBNY playoff chances) 2-0 home win against league power Miami. Julian Hall, on the other hand, missed a bunch of chances. If he's going to be a Klose/Gerd Muller sloppy-scoring poacher for the US eventually, Hall needs to put these chances away more consistently.
Justin Ellis played the first 60 minutes of Orlando FC's 2-2 home draw with NYCFC, leaving with his team up 2-1. From the highlights, Ellis seemed to have a typical Ellis game, steady and technical on the ball, and should have had an assist or two if his teammates (other than Griezmann) could finish better. I noticed that teenage midfielder/defender Jonathan Shore (eligible for 2027 U-20) had his first MLS goal to tie it up for NYCFC deep into stoppage time.
Goalie Brian Schwake had 6 saves as Nashville got the 2-0 road shutout at Montreal to clinch the top overall point total (Supporters' Shield) in MLS this season.
