Eight Champions League debutants

Eight Champions League debutants

Eight players under the age of 23 have been given their debuts in Europe by Ronald Koeman

It was a special day for Ilaix Moriba despite the elimination of Ronald Koeman's men in the Champions League against PSG (1-1, 5-2 aggregate). The midfielder came on in the 78th minute as one of the last three changes for Barça.

After scoring in the last league game in El Sadar, Ilaix continues to get first-team experience and, during Wednesday's match, he completed 18 good passes.

First stumble since his debut

Since his debut in the Copa del Rey at Cornellà (0-2), Ilaix Moriba had always ended on the winning side when playing in a match: Barça v Alavés (5-0), Sevilla v Barça (0 -2), Barça v Sevilla in the cup (0-3) and Osasuna v Barça (0-2). The draw in the Parc des Princes is therefore the first time that he's had to settle for less than a victory.

Not only Ilaix ...

Ilaix is not the only player to make his Champions League debut this season. Eight others have played their first match in the premier European competition. Pedri, Konrad de la Fuente, Trincão, Riqui Puig, Óscar Mingueza, Ronald Araujo and Matheus Fernades. Sergiño Dest has also played his first minutes as a Barça player in the Champions League, although he had already made his debut in this competition with Ajax.

None of the nine footballers mentioned are over 23 years of age. In the case of Pedri he made his Champions League debut at just 17 years and 330 days, a few days below Ilaix who did it at 18 years and 50 days against PSG. All are players with a bright future ahead.

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Força Barça

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