Christian Pulisic Misses Out on Coppa Italia Trophy During Career-Best Season | OneFootball

Christian Pulisic and AC Milan came up short in the Coppa Italia final, falling 1–0 to Bologna.

The Rossoneri were hoping to salvage their disappointing season by winning the Coppa Italia at the Stadio Olimpico. After getting past both Roma and Inter Milan on the road to the final, AC Milan seemed poised to lift the trophy for the first time since 2003.

Sérgio Conceição's men could not find an answer to Dan Ndoye's 53rd minute goal, though, and went on to suffer their 15th defeat this season. Pulisic, AC Milan's most consistent and creative player this season, was kept quiet by Bologna's disciplined defense; the USMNT captain created zero chances and managed zero shots in his 88 minutes on the pitch.

After the match, Pulisic spoke to the media and had the following to say: “Why did this happen tonight? I don’t know, we’re all disappointed. We didn’t play well, they did [play] very well. They pressed well and put us in a lot of trouble. We’re all disappointed. Now the important thing is to finish the season well; we have two games and we have to win."

Had AC Milan won the Coppa Italia final, the club would have automatically secured a place in the Europa League next season. Now, they must win their final two Serie A matches to give themselves a chance to play European soccer in their 2025–26 campaign.

The Rossoneri currently sit eighth in the Serie A standings, four points behind fourth-place Juventus and fifth-place Lazio. AC Milan will need to collect three points against both Roma and Monza and hope the clubs above them in the standings drop points to secure a finish in the European places.

“I want to thank the fans always. We’re disappointed, we always want to win. Let’s try to finish this season well and the next one too,” Pulisic said.

Despite the disappointing result and overall season for AC Milan, the 26-year-old American has shined on the biggest of stages for the Rossoneri. Pulisic has recorded a career-best 17 goals and 12 assists in 48 appearances across all competitions; two of those goals helped AC Milan take home the Italian Super Cup back in January.

Pulisic has two games left to increase his goal contributions tally for AC Milan before he must turn his attention to the USMNT's Gold Cup campaign this summer.