Christian Pulisic called AC Milan’s victory at the home of Champions League holders Real Madrid a “really special night” after the American star helped the Italian side to a memorable 3-1 win at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.

Pulisic sent a corner to Malick Thiaw to give the visitors a 12th minute lead, before subsequent goals from Álvaro Morata and Tijjani Reijnders secured back-to-back wins for Milan.

“Great result for us,” Pulisic told CBS Sports. “It’s obviously not easy to come and play here because of their history in the Champions League.

“A tough place to come and play, so for us to put in a performance like that and win the game is obviously a very special night for us.”

Vinícius Júnior had equalized for Madrid from the penalty spot in the 23rd inning after tripping in the penalty area.

But Pulisic played a role again as Milan took the lead again. His pass into the penalty area found Rafael Leão, whose shot was saved by Andriy Lunin, allowing Morata to pounce on the rebound and restore the visitors’ lead against his old club.

Morata has already received a hostile reception from the home fans, who apparently remember the goal he scored to take Juventus to the 2015 final at their expense.

Reijnders scored Milan’s third goal as the home fans made their frustrations known at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

It was Milan’s first win against Madrid in 15 years, handing last year’s champions back-to-back defeats for the first time since October 2021.

“We won because the players had the courage to come here and not be afraid of anything and play the game we wanted,” Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca told a post-match press conference.

“We prepared for a match where we wanted to keep the ball. In the first half we did important things and in the second half we suffered more, but we deserved to win, there is no doubt about that.”

Milan now have six points and are 18th after four of their eight games in the new 36-team Champions League competition phase, which would be good enough for a place in the quarter-final play-offs.

However, it has been a tough start to the season in Serie A, with Milan finishing in seventh place before a trip to Cagliari on Saturday.

“Our coach just said: enjoy tonight. We have to rest tomorrow because we have a big game coming up this weekend and if we don’t win it it won’t mean anything,” Pulisic said.

“So we’re going to try to enjoy ourselves as a team tonight, have a little party, but tomorrow we’ll get back to work.”

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.