Malik Tillman and Gio Reyna are attacking midfielders in the Bundesliga. Both are 23. Over the years, they have seen their U.S. national team stock rise and fall like a bank of elevators. Both have high World Cup aspirations.
With coach Mauricio Pochettino’s roster decisions less than four months away, Tillman and Reyna find themselves on divergent paths.
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The slate of January matches ended with Tillman scoring in Bayer Leverkusen’s 3-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt — three days after his two-goal jewel in the UEFA Champions League.
Meanwhile, Reyna ended an empty month unavailable for the second consecutive weekend because of muscle issues. Before the injury, he had played just 26 minutes for Mönchengladbach since the Bundesliga returned from winter break.
It’s a critical time for players jockeying for World Cup roster berths. Performances on the club circuit are heightened. Players need to not just solidify playing time but perform well when they are on the field. Pochettino and his staff are watching closely.
The next benchmark will come in six weeks, when Pochettino selects his roster for heavyweight friendlies against Belgium and Portugal in Atlanta — the last camp before announcing his 26-man World Cup squad in late May.
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There is a good chance both Tillman and Reyna will make the cut this summer. Tillman’s current form demonstrates what he can bring to the national team, while Reyna is coming off a stirring performance in his long-awaited return to the U.S. program in November.
Injuries and limited playing time have slowed Gio Reyna’s momentum at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
(Rene Nijhuis/MB Media via Getty Images)
Pochettino, of course, would prefer to see both hitting their stride before the World Cup. Right now, only Tillman is raising his game.
“He hasn’t had the consistency we would have expected, but he’s a player, without consistent playing time, who came to us in November and performed at a very good level,” Pochettino said of Reyna. “It is a similar situation 1770049796. We’re taking him into account for the decisions we’ll make in March and then for the World Cup.”
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Over the weekend, Tillman was confident and polished with the ball, scoring in the 33rd minute for his fourth Bundesliga goal and sixth overall.
In his first season at Leverkusen, Tillman was sidelined for weeks in the fall with a hamstring injury — a setback suffered in U.S. camp in October that kept him off the U.S. squad in November. Since returning, he has made 11 starts in all competitions, including Wednesday’s Champions League gem against Villarreal.
“It’s about time I scored more often,” Tillman said.
Conversely, Reyna remains in Mönchengladbach’s shadows. Since the U.S. camp in November, he has started four times and come off the bench four times. Overall, he has made 13 Bundesliga appearances for 399 minutes, with four starts, no goals and no assists.
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Elsewhere in Germany, center back Noahkai Banks returned from a yellow card suspension to make his 14th Bundesliga start in four months, logging 90 minutes in Augsburg’s 2-1 comeback victory over second-to-last St. Pauli. Midfielder James Sands went the distance for St. Pauli, which is winless in six straight.
Wing back Joe Scally (17th start) played 84 minutes in Mönchengladbach’s 1-1 draw with Werder Bremen.
Because of a calf injury, forward Damion Downs missed Hamburg’s 2-2 home draw with first-place Bayern Munich.
In the second division, left wing John Tolkin made his 18th start in Holstein Kiel’s 2-1 home loss to last-place Greuther Fürth.
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England
Forward Patrick Agyemang’s terrific first season at Derby County continued with a 66th-minute header during a 5-0 stroll at Bristol City — his third goal in four matches and ninth in the second-tier Championship. He is second on the team in scoring.
Unbeaten in four straight, the seventh-place Rams are two points behind Wrexham for the last promotion playoff berth. It’s been 18 years since they last played in the Premier League.
The top of the English Championship features Americans on clubs heading in opposite directions: Coventry City forward Haji Wright and Middlesbrough midfielder Aidan Morris.
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After squandering a second-half lead, Coventry City fell at Queens Park Rangers 2-1 and dropped level on points with Middlesbrough, which won at struggling Norwich City 1-0. Both remain on pace to earn promotion to the Premier League, though three clubs are within striking distance.
Wright entered in the 71st minute for Coventry, which is 2-4-1 over seven matches. Morris played 90 for Middlesbrough, which has won five straight as it seeks a return to the top flight for the first time since 2017.
Left back Antonee Robinson went 71 minutes in Fulham’s 3-2 loss at Manchester United, a heartbreaker after the eighth-place Cottagers overcame a late two-goal deficit.
Crystal Palace center back Chris Richards (90 minutes in his 20th Premier League start) was part of a 1-1 draw at 10-man Nottingham Forest — a result that stopped a three-game losing streak across all competitions but extended the Eagles’ winless drought to 12. They have not won a league game since Dec. 7 and have tumbled to 15th place.
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Midfielder Brenden Aaronson (71 minutes in his 17th Premier League start) and Leeds were on a 4-1-6 run in all competitions before getting buried at home by front-running Arsenal 4-0.
Italy
Few if any U.S. players have enjoyed a better winter than midfielder Weston McKennie, whose sterling play continued with a goal and unquestionable influence in the playmaker’s role during Juventus’ 4-1 domination at Parma.
McKennie (74 minutes) scored with a sweet side volley in the 33rd minute — his fourth goal in eight matches over all competitions — and sent a header off the crossbar in the second half. Fourth-place Juve, which is 14-2-5 overall since Oct. 29, is within a point of Napoli and two of AC Milan.
Gazzetta dello Sport gave McKennie high marks and said he was “still excellent.”
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After a rare start mid-week in the Champions League, midfielder Yunus Musah remained on the bench for Atalanta’s 0-0 draw at Como — his second consecutive Serie A no-show. He’s made just three league starts all season.
Forward Christian Pulisic and AC Milan had the weekend off ahead of Tuesday’s match at Bologna.
In Serie B, goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann and sixth-place Cesena continued to lose ground in the promotion chase, losing at Avellino 3-1 to extend its rut to 1-4-1.
France
Striker Folarin Balogun’s scoring slump reached five matches — and eight of nine — but he assisted in the 33rd minute of Monaco’s 4-0 romp over Rennes.
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Winger Tim Weah went 80 minutes in third-place Olympique Marseille’s 2-2 draw at Paris FC, setting up next Sunday’s showdown at Ligue 1 leader Paris Saint-Germain.
With Tanner Tessmann manning central midfield, Olympique Lyonnais won its 10th straight in all competitions, 1-0 over Lille, to pull even on points with Marseille, which is ahead on goal differential.
Defender Mark McKenzie played 90 minutes for the 15th time in his 18 league appearances as Toulouse drew at home with Auxerre 0-0 for its second straight clean sheet.
Spain
Midfielder Johnny Cardoso started for the third consecutive La Liga match as third-place Atletico Madrid played to a 0-0 draw at Levante, increasing its unbeaten run in league play to six (4-0-2).
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Days after his transfer from Orlando City was finalized, right back Alex Freeman was in uniform but didn’t play in Villarreal’s 2-2 draw at Osasuna.
Netherlands
In a battle of the Eredivisie’s top clubs, right back Sergiño Dest played 73 minutes in first-place PSV Eindhoven’s 3-0 rout of second-place Feyenoord, improving to 18-1-2 with a plus-39 goal differential. PSV forward Ricardo Pepi remains out with a fractured forearm.
Scotland
In the Premiership, center back Auston Trusty‘s red-card suspension left him watching Celtic’s 2-0 victory over Falkirk. He has been exceptional of late in the Europa League, scoring in consecutive matches.
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Mexico
In Liga MX, winger Alex Zendejas resumed training this past week but remains absent from Club América’s matchday squad. Between the muscular injury, the club’s early Apertura playoff elimination and the winter break, he has not played since Nov. 29.
