A historic moment! Young talent makes history at FC Bayern Munich and breaks a Champions League record

The 16-year-old centre-back’s introduction in the 72nd minute as a substitute for Josip Stanisic also went down in Munich’s history books. Pavic became Bayern’s youngest debutant in the Champions League, replacing Paul Wanner, who was 16 years, nine months and 19 days old when he made his first Champions League appearance against Viktoria Plzeň in October 2022. Lennart Karl, who once again demonstrated his goal-scoring threat with a goal and an assist in the 4-1 victory, meanwhile occupies fifth place (17 years, seven months and eight days) in the club’s internal youth rankings.

Pavic, who joined the FCB youth setup from SV Waldperlach in 2019, had previously featured exclusively for the U17s this season and also made his UEFA Youth League debut in December. In addition, Deniz Ofli made his professional debut, coming on as a substitute in the 56th minute to replace Aleksandar Pavlovic. Just moments later, he played a part in the build-up to the third goal.

Full-back Vincent Manuba and goalkeeper Leonard Prescott were two further young players in the squad. The latter was also on the verge of making his debut due to the tight situation in goal for Munich, though goalkeeper Jonas Urbig recovered in time from the concussion he sustained in the first leg in Bergamo. 

Bayern will now face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, who comfortably saw off Manchester City. The first leg takes place on 7 April at the Bernabéu, before the tie is decided eight days later at the Allianz Arena. By then, the squad situation should have improved again, particularly as Joshua Kimmich and Michael Olise return to the squad following their one-match suspensions.