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After a two-month hiatus, European club football's biggest showpiece returns, as the continent's finest resume hostilities in a bid to be crowned the premier club in Europe.
An arduous journey which started way back in September with 32 teams has been cut down to 16 and over the next three weeks, each of these clubs would be putting in their best efforts to make sure their European sojourn continues beyond this stage.
The Round of 16 in this season's UCL consists of the who's who of both established European dynasties such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, as well as recent upstarts like Tottenham and PSG, but they would all go into their various clashes with a genuine belief that they could make it into the quarterfinals and beyond.
A lot of the clubs would be pinning their qualification hopes on their established superstars, as they would need them to bring all their acquired experience to the fore to decide the outcome of these crunch fixtures.
However, history has shown us that more often than not, it is the younger players who seize the opportunity to announce themselves on the grandest stage of club football by grabbing the headlines and taking the shine off their more established colleagues.
Goals are required to win these games, and at its most basic, whoever scores more goals in these knockout fixtures progressed, with other factors such as away goals coming into play. Hence the clubs would need their star forwards to step up to the plate.
While this round of 16 has no shortage of superstar attackers who have banged in goals for fun over the years such as Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema, Sergio Aguero, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo but to name a few, there are also a couple of 'greenhorns' who are as good as any in finding the back of the net but lacking in experience compared to the aforementioned names. These are the subject of this piece.
In this piece, we shall be taking a look at the top five young forwards aged 21 and under taking part in this season's UCL round of 16 fixtures.
#5 Justin Kluivert - 19 years (AS Roma)
The son of legendary former Ajax, Barcelona and Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert, Justin always had his work cut out for him owing to the lasting legacy his father left during his playing days.
Very rarely do sons of great footballers go on to achieve fame, as they more often than not struggle to live up to their father's legacies. However, the younger Kluivert appears well on his way to doing so.
Having broken out at Ajax just like his father, he took his next step to Serie A but this time to AS Roma rather than AC Milan like his father did 22 years ago.
Justin became the youngest ever player to score a UCL goal for AS Roma when he netted the fourth goal in the 5-0 group stage victory over Viktoria Plzen.
Pacy, technical and with a keen eye for goal, Kluivert can prove to be a handful for opposing defenses and FC Porto would do well to keep an eye on him.
#4 Gabriel Jesus - 21 years (Manchester City)
Having guided Palmeiras to a first league title in 22 years in 2016, Gabriel Jesus sealed a mega-money move to Manchester City in January 2017.
He arrived as a highly rated teenager with a keen eye for goal and so far, he has boosted his reputation, with some eye-catching displays in front of goal for The Cityzens.
Earlier on in his City career, he displaced the imperious Sergio Aguero as the club's main striker, which is a testament to how highly Pep Guardiola regards him.
The 21-year-old also led the line for his country Brazil at the 2018 World Cup, showing that he has the necessary wherewithal to shoulder the pressure of leading a major team despite being relatively young.
Manchester City comes up against Shakhtar Donetsk in the round of 16 and the reigning EPL champions' form is so imperious at the moment that the tie is expected to be all but over after the first leg which could pave the way for Gabriel Jesus to show his abilities when the second leg comes around at The Etihad.
#3 Vinicius Jr - 18 years (Real Madrid)
Vinicius emerged as the latest in the seemingly never-ending production line of football talents that is Brazil with his displays for the Flamengo youth team, with Real Madrid making a move to get his signature for €46 million, despite him being just 17 at the time (and having played just two senior professional matches).
That sum represents the highest amount ever paid for a player below the age of 19, as well as the second highest fee received by a Brazilian club for the sale of a player (behind that paid for Neymar in 2013).
Upon his arrival at Real, the Brazilian struggled for game time, barely getting a look in by erstwhile coach Julen Lopetegui, turning out for the Castilla side instead.
His fortunes improved upon the sacking of Lopetegui and appointment of Santiago Solari who showed a lot of faith in him, thrusting him into the first team at the expense of more established players like Isco and Gareth Bale.
Vinicius has repaid his coach accordingly by turning in impressive performances since then and is one of the major driving forces behind Real Madrid's upturn in fortunes in recent weeks.
With a lot of illustrious Brazilians having turned out for Real Madrid before him, he would be looking to join the list and what better way to do so than by announcing himself on the stage where Real Madrid have perfected their symphony.
#2 Marcus Rashford - 21 years (Manchester United)
Rashford announced himself to the world when he made a goalscoring debut with his brace as a 17-year-old in United's Europa League knockout fixture with Midtjylland. He also went on to score a brace in his Premier League, League Cup, Champions League, International (youngest player to do so) and Manchester derby debuts.
Rashford was undoubtedly destined to get to the top, but suffered a series of setbacks in the form of the negative football and constant criticisms he received from now-departed manager Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.
Rashford suffered dips in form and saw himself overtaken by his contemporaries such as Kylian Mbappe (who he incidentally faces), Ousmane Dembele, and Gabriel Jesus among others.
However, the England international has now gotten his mojo back since the appointment of Solskjaer as caretaker manager at Old Trafford, scoring seven goals in his last ten appearances and his form was rewarded with him being named the EPL Player of the Month for January.
Coming up against PSG, Rashford has a chance to take himself to new heights by performing well against one of the pre-tournament favorites and such has been the change in fortunes of both clubs that PSG are very much entering the contest as underdogs which is testament to the improvement at United in the last two months of which Rashford has been a major progenitor.
#1 Kylian Mbappe - 20 years (PSG)
Future Ballon d'Or winner in waiting? Kylian Mbappe has undoubtedly been the standout young player in the world over the last two years, with his performances catapulting him from being a little-known teenager at Monaco into global superstardom.
Mbappe's achievements at such a tender age are well documented so it would be futile to repeat them here, but it suffices to say that the World Cup winner has had a career at 20 that a majority of footballers throughout history would have been proud to have had.
The now 20-year-old has already made a mark on this tournament following his displays with AS Monaco in their fairytale run to the semifinal in 2017, but would be looking to go one further by leading PSG all the way to their holy grail.
With Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Marco Verratti all sidelined for the marquee clash against Manchester United, Mbappe would carry extra responsibilities. However, on evidence of what we have witnessed so far, he has the shoulders to carry the extra burden and United would do well to keep him in check as the prodigy has the key to unlock any defense.
