Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Americans in the UEFA Champions League

Only two Americans are on active rosters for the 32 remaining clubs playing in the UEFA Champions League this year. Here's a rundown of how they fared on Match Day 1.

David Yelldell - GK - Bayer Leverkusen - The 32 year-old Yelldell is currently the 3rd string keeper behind Bernd Leno, the youngest GK to play in a Champions League match, and Dario Kresic, a former youth national team keeper in Croatia. A lot's going to have to happen before Yelldell makes an impact for Bayer Leverkusen who he's yet to play for in a league match despite signing with the club back in 2011.

Sacha Kljestan - MF - Anderlecht - Kljestan is in his 5th season with Belgian powerhouse Anderlecht setting a professional career high with 8 goals in league play last year. He scored in the Group Stage of the Champions League in 2013 against Olympiacos (Greece), in the Third Qualifying Round of the Champions League in 2012 against Ekranas (Lithuania), in the Group Stage of the Europa League in 2011 against Lokomotiv Moscow, and in the Third Qualifying Round of the Champions League in 2010 against The New Saints (Wales) in 2010. Kljestan came into the match against Galatasaray Tuesday in the 66th minute up 1-0, but Anderlecht couldn't hang on to the lead yielding a late equalizer to Burak Yilmaz.

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