Giovanni Reyna made his UEFA Champions League debut on Tuesday and made an immediate impact after coming off the bench.
The 17-year-old American recorded the game winning assist for Borussia Dortmund in a 2-1 first leg win over Paris Saint-Germain at Signal Iduna Park. It marked a strong debut for Reyna who helped the Bundesliga side take an advantage to the Parc des Princes for the return leg in March,
HÅLAND LET IT FLY
➡️ https://t.co/gUmi0J8oJ7 pic.twitter.com/Ec8rN3zemQ
— Bleacher Report Live (@brlive) February 18, 2020
After picking up possession just over midfield, Reyna raced forward before laying a pass off to Erling Haaland. The Norwegian continued his strong form in front of goal with a rifle past Keylor Navas for his 11th goal since joining the club in January.
As for Reyna it was an immediate impact after stepping onto the pitch just nine minutes prior as a second-half substitute. Reyna completed all six of his passes in the match while also winning two of his four duels. He made one recovery and successfully completed one dribble.
Since making his senior debut for the Black and Yellow back on Jan. 18th, Reyna has totaled seven appearances in all competitions. His first goal came against Werder Bremen in German Cup play and now the youngster has his first assist for the club.
Dortmund’s league schedule resumes on Saturday with a trip to Werder Bremen, remaining four points behind leaders Bayern Munich. Lucien Favre’s side visit PSG for the second leg on March 11th, which will be their first trip to the French Capital since 2010-11′.
Reyna’s emergence is exactly what the USMNT needs. I don’t care his age, he’s seeing minutes in a top 5 league and has now seen minutes in the Champions League. How many players do we have who can make that claim? Pulisic & Dest with Adams hopefully in the near future.
While I can accept that he may not be at a point where he’s a starter for the USMNT right now (fitness level) he should be the first attacking player off the bench. He’ll also represent a significant change to the type of attack that a Morris represents on the wing.
–
By the end of the European Season the Attacking options available to the USMNT will likely be significantly different than what we’ve seen to date under Berhaulter. If he’s smart GB will start pushing the transition sooner rather than later.
Striker: Sargent, Jozy, Morris, Ferreira
Wings: Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, Llanez, Saucedo, Chandler, Boyd
–
If Berhaulter can’t win in CONCACAF with this type of talent he has no place in coaching the USMNT.
To be honest Reyna was in large part responsible for the Paris goal in that he drifted to much into the middle giving Mbappe too much space. Then he didn’t attack Mbappe’s right foot which allowed him to race past Reyna. This was not entirely his fault because the slide tackle by Zagadou was clumsy at best which allowed Mbappe to cross the ball in. On the offensive side of the ball Reyna’s assist was inch perfect and it seems to me that Haaland enjoys playing with Reyna. Two young players who are quickly moving up.
Mbappe, Neymar, Navas and Di Maria were all on the field for PSG and Gio comes in and change the game on a tilt??? Lol, What???
–
Don’t know which was more impressive, the actual goal or the group of players his team bested!!!! Damn…
Kid is a juggernaut. He takes some hard fouls and gets right back up.
Job well done, Gio!
Come on, Beerholder, get your excuses ready as to why someone from MLS should start over Gio. “More experienced?” I don’t want to hear it. Reyna even drew a yellow card battling to hold onto the ball. The goal video doesn’t even show him attacking PSG after picking up the ball at midfield
A comparable player would be Dest, who was called in the first window after making his first team debut and was an immediate started against our biggest rival.
The Spanish announcer said the Argentina coach will invite Gio if the USA doesn’t. I think is just talk. Gio would need to file paperwork. Gio is not going anywhere.