The 2020-21 Champions League Breakout XI

Most of their teams are done, but here are the kids who made a name for themselves this year.

Now that scouting means opening Firefox instead of a frequent flyer account, nobody shows up at the Champions League an unknown. Hidden gems aren’t found between Heineken commercials. But the truth about prospects is you never really know how good they’re going to be until they try, and every season a new crop of kids gets a chance to show their stuff. Some of them have been hyped for years as an elite academy’s next big thing; for others, six games in the fall are a once in a lifetime opportunity to prove they’ve been overlooked. It’s not every day a kid from Krasnodar can square up against Kai Havertz to show Roman Abramovich he bought the wrong guy.

So before we roll on toward the knockouts and send minnows like Midtjylland and Man United off to oblivion and/or the Europa League, it’s worth pausing to appreciate some guys who did enough to get noticed this year. But first we’ll need to define who’s eligible for breakout status and who’s, like, Kylian Mbappé and Jadon Sancho.

Of the 717 humans who’ve appeared in this year’s Champions League, 140 are under the age of 22, according to FBRef’s Statsbomb data. That’s our pool. Martin Ødegaard just makes the cut; Trent Alexander-Arnold and Christian Pulisic are off to afternoon bingo at the old folks’ home. If this is your breakout campaign you’ve probably appeared in at least half the games, right? See you next year, Amad Diallo and Youssoufa Moukoko. Late subs don’t make much of a splash, so let’s set a 200-minute minimum and clear out some names like Juventus’s Dejan Kulusevski and Bayern’s Jamal Musiala. We’re down to 61 now.

Guys who played in a Big 5 league last season have already broken out: no self-respecting listicle’s going to tout João Felix and Phil Foden in 2020. And for kids who just got to a big club or are lining up a January move, a Transfermarkt value north of $20 million is a pretty good sign the secret’s already out. Hasta luego, Pedri. I hear Leipzig’s lovely, Dominik Szoboszlai. That leaves 27 eligible players.

Here are the Breakout XI, plus a few bench spots.

Strikers

Charles De Ketelaere, 19, Club Brugge (458 minutes)

Our first striker is … maybe not a striker at all? De Ketalaere spends a lot of time at left wing and went a full game against Dortmund as a left back for some reason. But whatever, he still managed to finish with a robust 0.5 non-penalty expected goals per 90’ and two actual goals to show for his trouble.

The question is how he does it. Even at a lanky 6’4”, the young Belgian gets bodied in the air, and he doesn’t really make runs in the box so much as find himself standing in the right place when he needs to be. That’s how he scored his first two Champions League goals, both against Zenit. It’s also the extent of his contribution to the other goal in Brugge’s first win, which a teammate had to help home after De Ketelaere blasted two point-blank shots into defenders. Hey, he’s a modern attacker, it’s all about the xG.

Anyway, the shots aren’t the most impressive part of De Ketelaere’s stat line. His 7.0 pressures per 100 opponent touches in Brugge’s two attacking thirds were good for third best out of all 717 group stage players. A scorer with that kind of defensive workrate can go places—just ask the guy one place behind him, Bruno Fernandes.

Sekou Koita, 21, RB Salzburg (517 minutes)

Can you have a breakout group stage as a striker without scoring a goal? Eh, maybe if four of your six games came against Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid.

Koita came pretty close to putting Salzburg ahead in their second game against Bayern when he picked off a loose backpass and put a teammate through on goal. Later he had a good chance himself when he crossed up Jérôme Boateng for a sneaky near-post shot. The Mali international is smart and hardworking on and off the ball. He’s got an eye for killer passes, although he’s the kind of teammate to let you hear about it if you don’t return the favor.

He only got as much playing time as he did in group stage because the better-known Patson Daka went down hurt, but Koita’s earned Jesse Marsch’s trust and arguably outshone Daka in all comps this year. It’s not easy to get agent calls as a 5’8” center forward, but if he can put up numbers in the Europa League like he does in Austria it’ll happen.

Bench: Lassina Franck Traoré, 19, Ajax (198 minutes)

Another short striker. Built like a goddamn Mack truck, sprints like a Kawasaki. Strong holdup play, deft feet. Scored his first Champions League goal and drew a pen against Atalanta the same week he put up an eye-popping 5 goal, 3 assist line in Ajax’s 13-0 chainsaw massacre of Venlo in the Eredivisie. His 0.79 NPxG+xA p90’ is best in our pool, but half his minutes came against Midtjylland, so he’ll need to keep showing up in the Europa League to make this a breakout year.

Wingers

Tetê, 20, Shakhtar Donetsk (514 minutes)

“Brazilian players are expensive—not necessarily in salary terms but when it comes to transfer fees. Tetê cost €15 million and had never played senior football in Brazil,” Shakhtar’s head of recruiting Jose Boto told The Athletic in a fascinating article about the Ukrainian club’s strategic identity as a Brazilian pipeline.

They got their money’s worth when Tetê, an inverted right winger, slotted home the opening goal in a 3-2 win over Real Madrid, set up the second by shimmying between Casemiro and Marcelo and drilling a shot off Thibaut Courtois’s hands, then assisted the third with a nasty backheel—all before halftime. Things cooled off after that, but the Grêmio academy product has everybody’s attention.

Antony, 20, Ajax (358 minutes)

Speaking of young Brazilian right wingers, here’s another in the not-quite-Rodrygo-but-still-pretty-pricey range. Unlike Tetê, Antony had a full senior season with São Paulo under his belt before making the move to Europe, where his numbers are already more promising in the Eredivisie than they ever were in the Brasileirão and Libertadores. That form didn’t quite carry over to Ajax’s Champions League campaign, but 0.7 non-penalty expected goals and 0.6 expected assists in four 90s isn’t too shabby, and he’s got a respectable defensive workrate too.

Antony’s first-minute goal against Midtjylland was memorable, but his best game probably came against Liverpool, when he put in a good shift on Andrew Robertson’s side. In the 57th minute he chested down a booming diagonal, dragged out Curtis Jones and Sadio Mané before disappearing both with a disguised one-two, then shook two more defenders to zip a low shot on target that his higher profile compatriot David Neres should’ve scored on the rebound. If Antony can surpass Neres, who moved from São Paulo at a similar age and fee three years ago, he’ll be doing just fine.

Bench: Noa Lang, 21, Brugge (296 minutes)

De Ketelaere’s older, way less defensive teammate, Lang made a permanent move to Brugge this year after a loan from his boyhood club Ajax. He’s produced more than De Ketelaere in league, and did manage a goal and an assist in limited group stage minutes, but the expected numbers weren’t thrilling.

Midfielders

Ryan Gravenberch, 18, Ajax (528 minutes)

It feels like cheating to put Gravenberch on here, since you probably already know about the “new Pogba” (ugh) who’s linked to every superclub under the sun, but did you know he’s a poet? Just listen to the kid describe his own game: “I am a kind of snake. Long, quite narrow and I slip along everywhere.” He’s also “a contortionist. I am able to slip and turn everywhere. And I have extension legs, pretty handy too.” Every athlete interview should be like this.

Unfortunately the Pogba comparisons extend to Gravenberch’s choice of agent, Mino Raiola, so expect the colorful metaphors to get coached into negotiation-speak pretty soon. In the meantime let’s just enjoy the talent. Gravenberch had the most progressive passes per 90’ in Ajax’s midfield during group stage and the fourth-most tackles and interceptions of any player in the competition (I know, I know, defensive stats suck, but point is he puts in work).

His gorgeous long-range curler of a goal against Midtjylland was, you’ve got to admit, Pogba-esque, but let’s not think of it that way. Let’s think of a snake with extension legs contorting its way toward stardom.

Mohamed Camara, 20, RB Salzburg (410 minutes)

Like Gravenberch, Camara stands out for his progressive passes and defensive actions, though both numbers look more ordinary in the context of Jesse Marsch’s frenetic soccer. What’s surprising is the 20-year-old’s poise on the ball—you could almost call it pausa—despite the pace of play. He stays aware of his surroundings and positions himself well to play in constant transition.

What made this a breakout year for him was sheer experience: he went the full 90’ in the first loss to Atleti and both to Bayern, which were way more respectable than the scorelines looked. Camara’s Instagram shows he’s buddies with his Mali teammate Koita, including a pic of them praying pitchside face down to the qibla. Earning a spot as a prospect in the Red Bull system is a good way to get your prayers answered.

Bench: Marcos Antônio, 20, Shakhtar Donetsk (244 minutes)

Remember those Shakhtar Brazilians? Here’s another who put in a good shift in that first Madrid upset. His playing time faded in the back half of group, but Boto says the young center mid has already proven himself in league play: “Marcos Antônio, an undisputed starter in our team, never played for Athletico Paranaense’s first team. ... That sends out a message to young players: they can come here and be protagonists.”

Fullbacks

Adrien Truffert, 19, Rennes (242 minutes)

It’s been a big year for Truffert, who just turned 19. Promoted to Rennes’ senior team this season, he earned a starting spot by November and was almost immediately thrown in against PSG. It was a similar story in the Champions League, where he came on at halftime against Chelsea after his team went down to ten men and showed enough to earn two more starts. Truffert did get badly caught out by Callum Hudson-Odoi on Chelsea’s first goal in the rematch, but hey, that’s how teenagers learn, right? Not like Rennes stood a chance in their group anyway.

Vitaliy Mykolenko, 21, Dynamo Kyiv (353 minutes)

Okay, so technically our Breakout XI has two left backs, but given how hard it is to find a good one that’s hardly a bad thing. Despite looking like a delinquent fifth grader, Mykolenko’s already a veteran of some Europa League campaigns, so missing a couple Champions League games with coronavirus didn’t cost him too much in exposure. Though he didn’t show much on the attacking end, that’s been a strength in league play, and he’s probably Kyiv’s most reliable ball progressor. He got beat on two goals by Federico Chiesa against Juventus and he’s pretty clearly not a center back like he was asked to be against Barcelona, but Mykolenko looks like a guy who might get a crack at a bigger league.

Center Backs

Rhys Williams, 19, Liverpool (333 minutes)

The definition of a breakout player, Williams still doesn’t have a Transfermarkt value and technically belonged to the U23s when Liverpool’s injury crisis pressed him into first team action. He came on for Fabinho half an hour into the second group game and started three of the next four in the Champions League, getting fans excited about an academy kid Jürgen Klopp has called “a proper Scouser.”

“From the moment he trained with us, I could see he was a proper talent,” said Klopp, who’s not known for gassing kids up more than they deserve. Williams showed it in group, where he was strong in the air and quick to leave his line the way his coach likes. His passing was a little cautious, but you can’t blame a newbie for deferring to his veteran partners. The way things are going for the club’s banged-up back line, he should get his Premier League debut soon.

Illia Zabarnyi, 18, Dynamo Kyiv (540 minutes)

The most important stat for any young player is minutes, and the barely legal Zabarnyi played every single one of them in Dynamo Kyiv’s Champions League campaign, including two games apiece against Juventus and Barcelona. The defense didn’t cover itself in glory but the 6’2” Zabarnyi was a monster at clearing the ball out of the box, and he got a head on a few attacking set pieces too. His October debut for the Ukrainian national team and three full Nations League games against Germany, France, and Spain are a pretty sure sign we’ll be hearing more about this kid.

Goalkeeper

Anatolii Trubin, 19, Shakhtar (450 minutes)

If it’s hard to earn minutes as a teenage center back, it’s even harder at keeper. Trubin was one of just two eligibles in net. Yeah, he allowed 8 goals, but they came on 8.5 post-shot expected goals, and when his coached benched him after a 6-0 shellacking by Gladbach, a further 4-0 shellacking by Gladbach against the next guy earned Trubin his spot back. Even at 6’6”, Trubin doesn’t claim many crosses, but his midrange distribution is decent and he’s got plenty of time to improve—as a teenage starter he’s years ahead of the keeper development curve. ❧

Further reading:

• Jack Lang, Inside Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian experiment (The Athletic)

Image: Kehinde Wiley, John, 1st Baron Byro