Real Madrid starlet becomes the second-youngest debutant for club in the Champions League | OneFootball

Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League campaign for the 2025-26 season kicked off in the best manner possible earlier this week as they took all three points against a tricky opposition in Olympique de Marseille.

The manner in which the result unfolded was indeed controversial, as Real Madrid converted two penalties to overturn a one-goal deficit on the night.

While the speculation over the legitimacy of the spot-kicks will only grow, all that matters to Los Blancos are the three points.

Kylian Mbappe stole the spotlight on the night with his match-winning brace but the game was special for several players and the manager for various personal reasons. One such player who hit a milestone on the night was Franco Mastantuono.

An elite list

As relayed by AS in a recent report, Mastantuono’s playing on the night saw him join an elite group of players in Real Madrid history who made their debut for the club in the UEFA Champions League at a very young age.

Mastantuono, in fact, is now the second-youngest Real Madrid players to have played in the competition.

Mastantuono started and impressed vs Marseille. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

At this moment, the record for the youngest debutant in the UCL for Los Blancos lies with Jose Rodriguez who appeared for the team at just 17 years and 354 days against Ajax in December 2012.

Mastantuono is the second-youngest ever as he played earlier this week at just 18 years and 32 days of age.

Also in the list, as per the order after the Argentine phenom, are Raul Gonzalez, Iker Casillas and Vinicius Jr. with the Brazilian making his debut at the age of 18 years and 118 days.

Raphael Varane, Samuel Eto’o, Rodrygo Goes and Achraf Hakimi round off the top nine.

Mastantuono earlier this week, however, did not just feature but started for Real Madrid and Xabi Alonso’s decision only provides foundation to the fact that the Argentine will have a lot of prominence for the team across competitions this season.