Zaïre-Emery and Doué Join Kanu in Elite Champions League History After PSG Reach Final

Two French teenagers. A Nigerian legend. And a record that’s stood for decades.

Warren Zaïre-Emery and Désiré Doué both started for PSG in their Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich on Wednesday — a 1-1 draw that sent the Parisians through 6-5 on aggregate to the Budapest final.

By starting, they became only the fourth and fifth players in history to start four Champions League semi-finals before the age of 21. The others on that list: Iker Casillas, David Alaba, and Nwankwo Kanu.

Kanu did it during Ajax’s back-to-back runs to the final in 1994-95 and 1995-96. Two decades of history in the game and only five players had ever managed it. Now two of them did it on the same night.

PSG face Arsenal in Budapest on May 30. Zaïre-Emery and Doué will start. Kanu’s name is in the record books alongside them.