Arsenal’s Champions League campaign enters the knockout rounds as the Gunners look to finally end the wait for European silverware.
Last season, the Gunners made it to the quarter-finals before they were knocked out of the competition by Bayern Munich.
This time around, they start the next phase against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League round of 16, with two legs against a side they have faced plenty of times over the years.
As Arsenal took to the field at the Phillips Stadion, two Hale End academy stars got their first taste of European knockout football.
Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri were handed a start by Mikel Arteta, with the latter joining the Champions League history books with his appearance.
Ethan Nwaneri becomes the third English player under 18 to start in Champions League knockout rounds
Ethan Nwaneri holds the record for the youngest-ever Arsenal player to feature, making his debut aged just 15 years old.
The Gunners are no strangers to the talent of the academy graduate, having held plenty of records in his short career so far.
While there is still a long way to go, the company that Nwaneri keeps in the record books shows a glimpse of exactly how good he could become.
He shows that yet again as he becomes the third English player under 18 to start in a Champions League knockout match.
The 17-year-old joins Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden as the other two to do so, with both often being described as generational talents.
Nwaneri will be hopeful that’s the first of many starts in the Champions League knockout rounds for the youngster, who has a big future ahead of him.
Wayne Rooney praises Ethan Nwaneri talent
The praise for Nwaneri continued to rain in before the match, with former England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney having plenty to say about the star.
He said on Amazon Prime: “You tend to see players, the main threats to goal – as much as we’ve talked about a number nine – the main threats to goal we see with Saka, Mo Salah, obviously Messi throughout the years have come from wide areas.
“You see some of the positions he’s [Nwaneri] getting in, tight areas, no backlift and getting his shots off.”
It’s yet more good company for Nwaneri to be in the mix with, though there are still plenty of different milestones for the youngster to hit in his journey to those levels.
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