Ukraine junior team footballer Artem Stepanov made his debut for the adult team of German Bayer in the Champions League.
In this match, Xabi Alonso's charges outclassed Austrian Salzburg with a score of 5:0.
Stepanov is the youngest Ukrainian to play in the Champions League
17-year-old Stepanov was included in the Leverkusen adult team's roster for the second time. The first time was on Saturday, November 23, in the Bundesliga match against Heidenheim. But then he remained in reserve.
Now watching
In the next match he was again included in the application and debuted for the Pharmaceuticals in the Champions League. Stepanov came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute of the match with the score 5:0. In addition to him, the German Francis Onyeka also came on as a substitute, for whom this was also his debut in the Champions League.
— They will remember this match in the future. They got their chance, because it is important — to give them good impressions when they first come out (in the Champions League, — Ed.), — said Alonso after the match.
The 17-year-old Ukrainian failed to score in the match, but he wrote his name into the history of Ukrainian football. Artem Stepanov became the youngest Ukrainian footballer to play in a Champions League main round match.
The previous record belonged to former Shakhtar defender Dmytro Chygrynskyy, who played his first match in the Champions League at the age of 18 years and 1 month. Stepanov was 17 years, 3 months and 16 days old at the time of his debut.
In addition, Artem also surpassed the record of Kai Havertz and became the youngest Bayer player in the Champions League. The current forward of London Arsenal made his debut for the pharmacists at the age of 17 years, 4 months and 22 days.
Note that the match itself Bayer — Salzburg was served by a Ukrainian team of referees led by Nikolai Balakin.
What is known about Artem Stepanov
Artem Stepanov is a native of Lutsk and a graduate of the Shakhtar Donetsk academy.
In the summer of 2022, the athlete moved to Bayer, where he began playing for the U-17 team. In January of this year, he signed a contract with the club, the term of which is calculated until June 30, 2027.
Stepanov is a player of the youth teams of Ukraine, for which he played 12 matches and scored eight goals.
