Christian Pulisic's sophomore season as a Chelsea player ended with the winger cementing his place in football history as the first American to ever win the Champions League.
"I’m just so proud," Pulisic told American broadcaster CBS Sports on the touchline of the Estadio do Dragao after Thomas Tuchel's side had defeated Man City 1-0 in Porto.
"It’s been a difficult road and I couldn’t imagine winning the Champions League in my life. Now I’m here it’s just crazy. I can’t explain it, it’s just incredible. I have no words. I’m so proud."
Pulisic didn't start the final in Portugal. That was no great surprise. The 22-year-old – nicknamed Captain America by fans and Chelsea teammates – has still yet to fully establish himself in the starting XI at Stamford Bridge. The reasons for that are myriad.
The biggest issue has been Pulisic's fitness. He has missed 27 matches in all competitions since arriving at Chelsea in the summer of 2019 following his £57.6million move from Borussia Dortmund. And these absences have come in spells: three games here, four games there. It's made building consistency difficult.
Pulisic was also impacted, somewhat surprisingly, by the arrival of Thomas Tuchel at the end of January. It was the German coach who placed faith in a teenage Pulisic at Dortmund, who gave him the platform from which to launch his career in the Bundesliga.
Yet Tuchel felt Pulisic was a greater threat for Chelsea off the bench. And so several weeks passed with the winger mainly being introduced in the second period of matches and in a variety of different roles.
"I can say nothing but good things about him," Tuchel stated in March. "Maybe his biggest problem is that I know him from Dortmund and I think he started only in the cup games.
"It is my responsibility and it is a bit unfair but I know what impact he can have in the last 20 or 30 minutes. He was a bit unlucky in the last few games. It isn't a lack of trust or quality, it is just that he will have to be patient."
Pulisic did eventually force his way into Tuchel's starting XI; he was included in the Chelsea side in nine of the last ten Premier League games and started the first leg of the Champions League semi-final first leg against Real Madrid.
Yet when it came to the crunch games – the FA Cup final and the Champions League final in particular – he was again named on the bench. And do not doubt for a moment Pulisic would've been disappointed about that.
The USMNT star is someone who enjoys responsibility; he often thrives when wearing the captain's armband for his country for exactly that reason.
At Chelsea, he's yet to be given that. Perhaps he never will with the array of stars, such as Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, and Timo Werner, at Tuchel's disposal.
If that's the case, Pulisic will need to step into the spotlight rather than it following him at Stamford Bridge.
His production last season, despite making more appearances than in his debut campaign, dropped. He went from scoring 0.47 goals per 90 in the Premier League to 0.21 per 90, according to FBRef. His assists per 90 meanwhile dipped from 0.21 to 0.10.
There was a slight element of misfortune about those numbers given his expected goals per 90 in the top flight was 0.28 and his expected goals assisted per 90 was also 0.28.
Yet both of those figures were significantly down on what he achieved in 2019/20.
Pulisic's place in the Chelsea squad is not under threat. He is a player with an incredibly high ceiling and is also hugely important from a marketing perspective for the club.
Yet there does need to be an onfield improvement from the American next season. He has the ability to be hitting double figures in both goals and assists in the Premier League, the skill set to be keeping equally talented players out of Tuchel's side. He is up for the challenge too.
“It has been an incredible two years," he reflected in May in an interview with ESPN. "People have always doubted and said: ‘Oh, he’s not playing. Does he want to go here? Does he want to go there?’ But I’m always up for a challenge. I love competing."
