Max Dowman: The stats behind Arsenal star’s historic night as ‘miracle player is born’ | OneFootball

TEAMtalk looks at the stats behind Max Dowman’s history-making night in Prague, as the Arsenal teenager was dubbed a ‘miracle player’ by his opponents and left Mikel Arteta almost lost for words.

Dowman’s substitute appearance against Slavia Prague on Tuesday evening saw him become the youngest player to feature in a Champions League match at 15 years and 308 days – the only 15-year-old to do so.

It surpassed the previous record, which was held by FC Copenhagen striker Youssoufa Moukoko, who was 16 years and 18 days old when he featured for Borussia Dortmund against Zenit in December 2020.

Dowman was introduced with 18 minutes to go and the game already won in Prague, but he did not just make the headlines because of his age – the Arsenal attacker was simply electric in everything he did and looked more than comfortable on the big European stage.

Slavia players clearly couldn’t handle him. In the short time he was on was on the pitch, Dowman was the third most fouled Arsenal player in the game behind Mikel Merino and Leandro Trossard, who both started and had significantly more game time.

The stats behind Dowman’s 18-minute cameo were as followed…

➡️ 16 touches ➡️ 3 attempted dribbles (1 completed) ➡️ 2 fouls drawn ➡️ 4 ground duels won ➡️ 2 recoveries

His performance left Gunners boss Arteta almost speechless, with the Spaniard admitting after the game: “The first ball he gets, he takes people on. He starts to dribble and gets a foul. That is personality, that is courage.

“You cannot teach that – you either have it or you don’t. It doesn’t matter what his passport says, you throw him in this context and he is able to adapt and have a good performance.”

Slavia Prague players floored by Dowman display

Arteta wasn’t the only one impressed by Dowman’s history-making efforts, with opponents Slavia Prague also wowed by the teenager.

“I know which player it was, but I had no idea he was fifteen years old,” Slavia captain Lukas Provod said with a smile after his side’s defeat.

“And hats off to him for making it here in Eden – the youngest player in the Champions League in history. I will be watching him and I believe he will only grow.”

Slavia defender David Zima added: “The difference is in how the players are approached. Of course, there are many more footballers in England, it’s a bigger country and every now and then a miracle player is born.

“There are some physical flaws but I looked completely different at fifteen. This is actually a grown-up player when you see him on the pitch.”

Meanwhile, Slavia head coach, Jindrich Trpisovsky, insisted that Dowman did not look out of place against his players.

When asked if was ‘extreme’ to see a 15-year-old play in a senior Champions League game, Trpisovsky replied: “It definitely is but if you see him on the field, you wouldn’t say that.

“He had resilience, for example in a duel at the line, of course the substitute player is always fresher and has more strength, but he withstood big things. His technique is great.

“At fifteen years old, he is an incredible extreme at this level. For Arsenal, another great player, who will be produced from their own incubator to the top level. Which is the hardest thing in a big club.”

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