Barcelona whiz Yamal overtakes Babayaro as 2nd youngest CL player, could break Kanu's 28yo record

Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal has overtaken retired Nigeria international Celestine Babayaro as the second youngest player to feature in the UEFA Champions League ,allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

The Spain international became the second youngest debutant in Champions League history when he came off the bench for Barcelona in their 5-0 rout of Alhassan Yusuf's Royal Antwerp at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on Tuesday night.

Yamal at the age of 16 years and 86 days is eighteen days younger than Babayaro was when the defender started for Anderlecht against Steaua Bucharest in the 1994-1995 group stage.

Babayaro's Champions League record stood for twenty six years before it was broken by Youssoufa Moukoko, who was aged 16 years and 18 days when he played the last 32 minutes of Borussia Dortmund's 2-1 win at Zenit St Petersburg in December 2020.

The Atlanta 1996 Olympics gold medalist is also the youngest player to be sent off in the Champions League after he was dismissed 37 minutes into the game against the Romanian side.

Should Yamal win the Champions League with Barcelona at Wembley on June 1, 2024, he would become the youngest player to win the competition. 

Aged 18 years and 296 days when he replaced  Clarence Seedorf in the 1995 final between Ajax Amsterdam and Juventus, Kanu holds the record as the youngest Champions League winner - a record that still stands after 28 years. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: ajax.nl

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