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Football, you can sleep tight. Your future is bright
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Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 01.06.25. | 22:15
None of the three European competitions' winners' squads has been older than 25 on average!
The popular football philosophy has been that a team needs a group of experienced "old hands" to win trophies, especially the major ones. And examples of that are numerous: from AC Milan in 2007 and Inter Milan in 2010 to prime Barcelona and Real Madrid in the UCL, from Sevilla's fantastic generations that dominated UEL to Man United and Atalanta's winning Europa League teams.
Still, this trend seems to have changed this season, and the winners of the three European competitions are clear evidence of that.
Average age of all 3 European Trophy Champions:
— SM (@smiso8202) May 31, 2025
UCL: 23.7 yrs
UEL: 24.6 yrs
UECL: 23.5 yrs
Namely, none of the three European competitions' winners' squads has been older than 25 on average!
Chelsea, the UEFA Conference League champions, have had the youngest roster with an average age of 23.5. Moreover, Enzo Maresca made history, as the 26-year-old Marc Cucurella was the oldest player in the Blues' XI in the final against Real Betis!
0 - The oldest player in Chelsea's starting XI tonight is Marc Cucurella (26). They are only the second side to start a major UEFA final without a player aged 27+ in their XI, after Crvena zvezda v Borussia Mönchengladbach in both legs of the 1978-79 UEFA Cup final. Exuberance. pic.twitter.com/95BuxWrqUR
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 28, 2025
Paris Saint-Germain's crew that ran riots against Inter last night is just slightly older than the Premier League side, with an average age of 23.7. Luis Enrique included only three players older than 26 in the lineup - Marquinhos (31), Fabian Ruiz (29), and Ousmane Dembele (28) - though the real match-winners were the Saints' scorers.
This PSG side is the youngest UCL champion in history (average age 23 years and 8 months)
— H.#DembeleBallonDor (@PsgKD7) May 31, 2025
The new project.🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/NZpwaAmgoC
The four different players who netted for the Parisians' crushing triumph are all slightly over 22! Achraf Hakimi is the oldest with 26, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is two years younger, the Man of the Match and brace-scorer Desire Doue will turn 20 in two days, while Senny Mayulu turned 19 two weeks before the final!
In the end, Tottenham are the "veterans" among the three European competitions' winners, with an average age of 24.6, though most Spurs' youngsters were on the bench. Destiny Udogie and Pape Matar Sarr, aged 22, were the youngest in Ange Postecoglou's XI, while the 28-year-olds Guglielmo Vicario, Yves Bissouma, and Richarlison were the oldest.
Either way, the three champions proved that times and trends from the past may have started changing and - most importantly - that football fans won't lack marvellous players even when the current superstars retire.
Football can sleep peacefully and tight - its future is bright!
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