Moukoko becomes youngest Champions League player
Dec 09, 2020
Saint Petersburg [Russia], December 9 : Borussia Dortmund striker Youssoufa Moukoko on Tuesday became the youngest player in the Champions League history.
Dortmund coach Lucien Favre once more included Moukoko on the bench as the Germans saw out their last Group F match away to Zenit St. Petersburg, with qualification to the last 16 already secured. Dortmund beat Zenit 2-1 at Krestovsky Stadium.
The forward was introduced to the action 58 minutes in with BVB trailing 1-0 to the Russians, replacing Felix Passlack in the line-up.
At 16 years and 18 days old he, therefore, took the record held by Celestine Babayaro since 1994, when the ex-Nigeria international made his European bow for Anderlecht.
Last month, Moukoko become the youngest player to feature in a Bundesliga match after he made his debut for Borussia Dortmund at Olympiastadion Berlin. A day after turning 16, he was immediately included in Dortmund's squad for their league clash away to Hertha Berlin.
A rule change in the German top-flight earlier this year has changed the minimum age requirement from 16 and a half to 16, enabling his inclusion on the bench, the day after his birthday.
Moukoko has also made an impact at the international level, representing Germany at both U-16 and U-20 levels.
"He's trained with us now for 14 days. Seven or eight players were away on international duty. It was 5-2 and it was good for him to play his first Bundesliga game but of course he has to keep working. He's very, very young. We have a lot of attacking players, a lot who haven't played today," Goal.com quoted Favre as saying.
