In the latest Champions League games, Porto beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2:1, and Barcelona lost 3:2 away to Antwerp. Both Porto and Barca qualified for the knock-out phase of the tournament. What caught the attention was that Pepe was among the goalscorers for Porto, and Lamine Yamal assisted Ferran Torres for the first of Barcelona’s goals.
By doing so, Pepe broke his own record for the oldest goalscorer in a Champions League game, finding the back of the net at 40 years 9 months and 17 days. Lamine Yamal bettered the record for a goal involvement by the youngest players, previously held by another La Masia graduate, Bojan Krkic. At the tender age of 16 years and 5 months, the Spaniard became the youngest to assist but has plenty of time to write his name also as the youngest goalscorer in the tournament.
16 – Lamine Yamal 🇪🇸 (16 años, 153 días) se ha convertido en el jugador más joven en dar una asistencia en la historia de la @LigadeCampeones, superando el récord de Bojan Krkic, que lo hizo también con el @FCBarcelona_es en noviembre de 2007 (17 años, 91 días). Precoz. pic.twitter.com/ijljY4tJHF
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) December 13, 2023
Only 3 months separate us from the return of Champions League football in February when Barcelona and Porto will be out on the field again. Given the gap of over 24 years between the pair, Pepe could easily be Lamine Yamal’s father. If everything goes to plan and Pepe and Yamal are healthy, they both will be presented with yet another chance of placing their names in the history annals.
The Portuguese international can only better his own accomplishments, but as for the young and hungry Lamine Yamal, the record for the youngest goalscorer in the competition currently held by Ansu Fati looks like an achievable feat.