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Dortmund prodigy Moukoko becomes youngest Champions League player in history

Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Youssoufa Moukoko set yet another record on Tuesday by becoming the youngest player in 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.

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. 

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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.

Dortmund would get goals from Lukasz Piszczek and Axel Witsel to win the match 2-1 and advance to the last 16 as group winners.

Moukoko made his BVB debut at the end of November when he entered his team's clash against Hertha Berlin for four-goal hero Erling Haaland. 

At 16 years and one day he thus became the Bundesliga's youngest-ever debutant , playing the last six minutes as Dortmund ran out 5-2 winners.

With the league's minimum age set at 16 - a regulation that was changed from 16 and six months earlier in 2020, partly in anticipation of the prodigy's emergence as a possible first-teamer - is it likely that Moukoko's Bundesliga record will stand for some time.

The Cameroon-born Germany youth international has gone on to make two further appearances off the bench in the Bundesliga since coming on for his debut in that drubbing of Hertha Berlin, after which he  received glowing praise from his team-mate Haaland , hardly a veteran himself at 20. 

"I think he’s the biggest talent in the world right now,: Haaland told ESPN following the Hertha win. "16 years and one day, that’s quite amazing. He has a big career ahead of him.

“I’m over 20 years, so I’m getting old now, so that’s how it is."

Moukoko has also already represented Germany at Under-20 level and was playing for Dortmund's U17 side at the age of just 12. 

Coach Lucien Favre added: “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.”

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