With Estêvão shining, Champions League sees teenagers take centre stage | OneFootball

Estêvão, Karl, Mayulu, Dowman… A group of teenagers has become the protagonists in this edition of the Champions League, following in the footsteps of Lamine Yamal, who, at just 18 years old, is the star of Barcelona.

In the early matches of the Champions League, with the sixth round played this week, some of these “prodigies” have already shone, such as the Brazilian Estêvão, who was crucial in Chelsea’s emphatic 3-0 victory over Yamal’s Barcelona two weeks ago.

The former Palmeiras player, just 18 years old, needed only 20 matches to become the new star at Stamford Bridge and, against the Spanish champions, scored for the third consecutive European game, reaching five goals and one assist for the club.

“Too Much Pressure”

“He is a special player. Fans pay to see players like him,” declared Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca at the end of October, after the match against Ajax. However, the coach warned against comparing these players to Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, icons of football over the last 20 years. “I think it’s too much pressure for such young boys.”

In that match, Chelsea fielded a team with an average age of just 23.6 years, and three of the five goals were scored by players under 20 years old (Marc Guiu, Estêvão, and Tyrique George).

Chelsea, who have lost only one European match this season, against Bayern Munich, will secure their place among the top eight, guaranteeing direct qualification for the round of 16, if they beat Atalanta this Tuesday. The Italian team also has 10 points, five behind leaders Arsenal.

Another sensation of this Champions League season, Lennart Karl plays for Bayern Munich. The 17-year-old attacking midfielder (he will only turn 18 in February) took advantage of Jamal Musiala’s serious injury during the Club World Cup to secure a spot in the starting lineup.

Compared to Messi, CR7, Kaká…

Short (1.68 m), left-footed, technically gifted, and dangerous on the right. This could be the description of a young Messi, but it’s Karl. “What we’re going to do is get the best out of him. It’s important that he enjoys this moment and develops like any other young player. We’re not going to get distracted by comparisons to other left-footers,” his coach Vincent Kompany said recently.

He already has four goals and two assists. His latest goal, in London, wasn’t enough to avoid defeat to Arsenal in the last round, which means Bayern (tied on 12 points with PSG, Real Madrid, and Inter) must recover on Tuesday in Munich against Sporting, to avoid jeopardizing their chances of direct qualification for the round of 16.

PSG is another team betting on youth. If last season, when the Parisians won the title, Desiré Doué (20 years old) was already standing out, injuries in attack have forced Luis Enrique to turn to the youth ranks this season, with Senny Mayulu (19 years old) as the new discovery.

The young midfielder has already played 15 matches this season in all competitions (four of them in the Champions League), scoring three goals (two in Ligue 1 and one against Barcelona), the latest coming on Saturday in the 5-0 rout of Rennes, a match in which Ibrahim Mbaye (17 years old), another young player given an opportunity by Luis Enrique, also scored.

Record Collector

“I don’t give anything away. When a PSG player plays, it’s because he deserves it,” explained Luis Enrique on Saturday, emphasizing the importance of developing young athletes. On Wednesday, against Athletic Bilbao, they will have another chance to shine against another prodigy, the Spanish-Brazilian Selton Sánchez (18 years old).

Max Dowman has not yet secured a spot in Arsenal’s starting lineup, but this young winger, often compared to Kaká and who only turns 16 on December 31, became the youngest player ever to debut in the Champions League a month ago, the latest in a series of records, including being the youngest player to score a goal in the UEFA Youth League and the youngest to start for Arsenal.

On the visit to Club Brugge in Belgium, he may have another chance to showcase his talent and, at the same time, help Arsenal maintain their lead at the top of the Champions League table (with 15 points).

Argentinian Franco Mastantuono of Real Madrid, Danish Lucas Bergvall of Tottenham, Portuguese João Simões of Sporting, Icelander Viktor Dadason of Copenhagen, and Kazakh striker Dastan Satpaev of Kairat Almaty, where goalkeeper Sherhan Kalmurza also plays, are some of the other players who have already stood out in this Champions League without having yet turned 20 years old.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.