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The UEFA Champions League has been graced by many fine players, especially goalscorers, over the years.
Many experienced campaigners have flourished in the Champions League. But a handful of young players have also found success in European club football's blue riband competition, especially in the last few years. The likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe are two such names in this regard.
The duo first broke into the scene as precocious teenagers. Now 21 and 22 respectively, Haaland (21) and Mbappe (27) have already scored over 20 times in the Champions League. However, players younger than them have also found the back of the net in the competition.
On that note, here's a look at the five youngest goalscorers in the history of the UEFA Champions League:
Note: All stats are as per transfermarkt unless mentioned otherwise.
#5 Bojan Krkic - 17 years, 214 days (2008) | Barcelona
Bojan Krkic burst onto the scene at Barcelona at almost the same time a certain Lionel Messi was beginning to make his mark.
Bojan was compared to the Argentine for his blistering exploits in the youth ranks. He made history in the 2007-08 season when he became the youngest player to appear in the Champions League quarter-finals against Schalke. He made that an occasion to remember by becoming the then third-youngest scorer in the competition's history.
He scored three times in the Champions League in Barcelona's historic treble-winning 2008-09 campaign. However, he would score just once more in the competition and was never the same player again after leaving Barcelona the following summer.
#4 Cesc Fabregas - 17 years, 213 days (2004) | Arsenal
Cesc Fabregas has largely lived up to his reputation as a master passer since first breaking onto the scene in 2004 with Arsenal.
The then 17-year-old made an immediate impact, scoring in the Gunners' 5-1 win against Rosenborg in the Champions League. That made the young Spaniard the second-youngest scorer in competition history at the time.
The versatile Fabregas has scored 20 Champions League goals in over 100 games for three different clubs - Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea. However, the 34-year-old Monaco midfielder is yet to win the competition.
#3 Mateo Kovacic - 17 years, 211 days (2011) | Dinamo Zagreb
Mateo Kovacic is not a prolific scorer in the Champions League. In fact, he has netted just four times in over 50 games in the competition for three different clubs.
However, the first time he scored in the competition, Kovacic created history. The 17-year-old's strike in Dinamo Zagreb's 1-7 defeat to Olympique Lyon in the group stages of the 2011-12 Champions League season made him the second-youngest scorer in the competition's history.
The four-time Champions League winner didn't score but provided an assist during Chelsea's triumphant campaign last season.
#2 Peter Ofori-Quaye - 17 years, 190 days | Olympiacos
Peter Ofori-Quaye became the youngest scorer in Champions League history when he netted on his competition debut against Rosenborg in the group stages in 1997-98. Unfortunately, his effort came in a losing cause, as Olympiacos Piraeus suffered a 1-5 humbling against their Norwegian visitors.
Three years later, Ofore-Quaye scored his second Champions League goal. This time, it came in a winning cause, as Olympiacos beat Olympique Lyon 2-1. The Ghana international's third and final strike in the competition came a year later, in Olympiacos' 2-2 draw away at Deportivo La Coruna.
In his sixth and final Champions League campaign in 2002-03, Ofori-Quaye went scoreless.
#1 Ansu Fati - 17 years, 39 days (2019) | Barcelona
Ofore-Quaye remained the youngest scorer in Champions League history for more than two decades before Ansu Fati lowered the mark by more than five months. The La Masia graduate scored Barcelona's winner in a 2-1 win against Inter Milan in the 201 to rewrite the Champions League record books.
Fati looked set for a breakthrough campaign in the competition in 2020-21 when he scored against Ferencvaros at home. That made him the youngest player to score multiple goals in the Champions League. The teenager provided two assists in three games that campaign before enduring a season-ending injury.
He returned to the competition this season, but drew a blank as Barcelona lost 3-0 at Benfica.
