With Barcelona's 16-year-old wonderkid Lamine Yamal expected to feature heavily in the UEFA Champions League this season, here is a look at the five youngest players to ever feature in the competition!
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The Catalan club has done it again, and, by again, we mean produce yet another young footballer who could go to the very top. Perhaps it would be unfair to project onto Yamal what the rest of his career should look like, but fans can be forgiven for getting excited about his enormous potential! The winger made his debut for Barcelona at just 15 years old, and became Spain's youngest-ever player during the latest international break. As the Blaugrana prepare to return to the Champions League this season, one can imagine that Yamal will be a regular in the tournament, whether from the start of matches or from the bench.
However, Yamal will not be setting a new competition record this time as, should he make his debut for the Spanish giants on Tuesday night, he will become the second-youngest player in the tournament's history behind Borussia Dortmund's Cameroon-born striker Youssoufa Moukoko. The Germany international tasted his first Champions League action in a 2-1 win over Zenit St. Petersburg in 2020 at 16 years and 18 days old to take the long-standing record away from ex-Nigeria defender Celestine Babayaro, who, at the time, was representing Anderlecht. Incredibly, the left-back was sent off after just 37 minutes! Babayaro was 16 years, two months and 25 days old, with Yamal set to be 16 years, two months and five days old when Barcelona host Royal Antwerp in Europe this week.
The third-youngest footballer to have appeared on European club football's biggest stage is Olympique Lyon midfielder Rayan Cherki, who debuted in 2019 at 16 years, three months and 10 days old, while Alen Halilovic is fourth on the list after turning out for Dinamo Zagreb from the bench in a 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain at 16 years, four months and 25 days back in 2012. The Croatian was once tipped to be "the next Messi", and even joined the Catalan club in 2014, but has fallen far short of those previous expectations, having played for 11 more teams across Europe since then.
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Belgium international and Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans completes the five-player list after appearing in the Champions League for the first time a decade ago. The ex-Leicester City star, still only 26, was 16 years, four months and 25 days old when he debuted in the competition for Anderlecht in a 3-0 defeat to Greek side Olympiacos.
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