5 most prolific teenagers in Champions League history
The UEFA Champions League is set to continue this week, with football fans across the globe anticipating some entertaining fixtures. After a long international break, it is only right that Europe’s flagship football competition continues from where it left off.
The Champions League has seen very great footballers, both past and present, and indeed many hold the view that it is the competition where the very best of players belong. In other words, to be widely regarded as one of the best in the sport, you need to prove your mettle in the Champions League.
As a result, the competition often provides the perfect platform for young footballers to make their mark. In the last decade, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been the standout stars in the Champions League, but the superstar duo didn’t look this prolific when they made their debuts in the competition as teenagers.
It will surprise you to know that both Ronaldo and Messi do not even make the list when it comes to top five players who have scored the most goals in the competition as teens. The Champions League is arguably the biggest stage any footballer could dream of, but it is even more difficult when a young player has to overcome all that pressure to perform.
That notwithstanding, here are the five most prolific teenagers in the history of the Champions League:
#5 Obafemi Martins/Miralem Pjanic – (4 goals)
Starting the list is Nigerian international Obafemi Martins, who managed to net four goals in the Champions League as a teenager. The 33-year-old may currently be playing in China, but he was once regarded as the biggest thing in football during his fledgling years.
Martins made his debut in the Champions League while playing for Serie A giants Inter Milan. In 32 games, the speedster scored an impressive 10 goals – four of which came while he was under the age of 20. The former Newcastle United striker, however, shares that record with Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic.
The diminutive Bosnian midfielder has been less productive in front of goal in recent years, but the situation was different while he was developing at French side Lyon. Pjanic was one of Lyon’s most influential players in the late 2000s and scored a total of five goals for the club in the Champions League before joining Roma.
However, four of those goals came while he was still a teenager. The goal tallies of both Pjanic and Martins may look so scanty, but these were teenagers and to have such numbers at that age is a huge achievement.