Best U19 XI in the UCL this season | UEFA Champions League 2019/20
In January 2015, Real Madrid made waves when they signed 16-year-old Martin Odegaard from Norwegian outfit Stromgodset. They paid a fee that was believed to be in the region of €4 million for the youngster who has since played for Real Madrid Castilla and made a couple of appearances for the senior team.
His Real Madrid tenure has been punctuated by loan spells at Heerenveen, Vitesse, and now Real Sociedad. Still only 20-years-old, he's had regular football for the last 4 years and is starting to show why Los Blancos put their faith in him at such an early stage.
It's becoming an increasingly common trend for large clubs to invest in younger players instead of paying massive sums for them when they make it as full-fledged superstars. The likes of Chelsea, Benfica, Ajax, and Manchester City have academy teams that could compete with many first teams. Those who can't blood the talent into the first-team squad often let them go for a profit.
Nonetheless, this trend means that every year there are young players who steal the spotlight. Kylian Mbappe (20) did it with Monaco, Matthijs de Ligt (20) captained Ajax to a domestic double and the semi-finals of the Champions League, and Jadon Sancho (19) continues to grab headlines in Germany and now playing for the English national team. Sancho and Atletico Madrid new boy Joao Felix (19) would both be the stars of this side, but for the purpose of exploring other potential talents, let's leave them out of this discussion.
There are plenty across teams in Europe who will be competing in the Champions League this season who're waiting in the wings, and ready to stand up and shine. We put them together into an XI of top U19 talent in the Champions League.
Goalkeeper
Amid all of Paris Saint-Germain's transfer activity in the summer, the tiny free transfer of Marcin Bulka (19) from Chelsea flew under the radar. They have since exchanged Alphonse Areola for Real Madrid's Keylor Navas who will undoubtedly be the first choice keeper for PSG. Bulka, however, has already made a first-team appearance in PSG's first game of the season (in which he kept a clean sheet) and will be Navas' deputy for the rest of the season.
RB Leipzig U19 goalkeeper Tim Schreiber (17) is also on their list of backups for the Champions League squad. The odds that he will make an appearance for them is low, but he's one to watch for the future.