Alexander-Arnold Set To Make Champions League Final History : Finidi Holds Nigerian Record

Published: May 21, 2019

Liverpool fullback Trent Alexander-Arnold will create history if he starts for the Reds in their Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur on June 1, 2019.

Born 7 October 1998, the right-back would become the first ever player aged under 21 to start consecutive finals in Europe’s premier club competition.

Italian defender Christian Panucci currently holds the record for the youngest player to start in two consecutive Champions League finals, starting for AC Milan against Barcelona and Ajax Amsterdam in 1994 and 1995 respectively.

Panucci was aged 22 years and 42 days when he started against Ajax at Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna on May 24, 1995.

The youngest Nigerian player to start in two consecutive Champions League finals is Finidi George, who went the distance for Ajax Amsterdam against AC Milan and Juventus in 1995 and 1996 respectively.

The former Super Eagles winger was aged 25 years and 37 days when he started against Juventus twenty-three years ago.

Former Ajax Amsterdam star Nwankwo Kanu was still a teenager when he featured in his second consecutive Champions League finals vs Juventus, a record that can never be broken by Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The Nigerian striker was a second half substitute against Milan in the 1995 final, before starting against Juventus the following year.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : twitter.com/OfficialFinidi