Antoine Semenyo Hits Historic Champions League Milestone First Time in 22 Years
Antoine Semenyo has done something only one other player has managed in the entirety of football after being handed his Champions League debut on Wednesday night.
Pep Guardiola elected to bring in Semenyo and fellow January signing Marc Guehi from the off for Manchester City's Champions League round of 16 first leg clash with Real Madrid.
Staggeringly, the game is the 15th meeting between City and Real in the Champions League and the second this season after the Blues' 2-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu.
But it is the very first Champions League appearance for Semenyo, who has scored seven times in all competitions for City since joining in a £62 million switch from Bournemouth.
He was unable to play in the league phase of the competition but has been thrown straight in against the 15-time European champions.
In playing in Europe's premier club competition, Semenyo has become the second player to play in all four divisions of English football, Non-League and the Champions League.
Semenyo started out at Championship side Bristol City and had an experience of Non League with Bath City.
He then spent time in League Two and League One on loan at Newport County and Sunderland respectively, before becoming a Premier League player with Bournemouth.
Who was the first player to achieve the Champions League feat?
The first person to achieve the feat was former Liverpool player Steve Finnan, who did it in the same season the Reds won the Champions League in Istanbul back in 2005.
Having started out at Welling United outside of the Football League when released by Wimbledon., the Irishman made his Champions League debut in a qualifier against Grazer AK of Austria in 2004.
Finnan also represented Birmingham City, Notts County, Fulham and Portsmouth in English football, as well as enjoying a spell in Spain with Espanyol.
He is still ahead of Semenyo in one aspect as Finnan has also played in the World Cup for the Republic of Ireland back in 2002.
Semenyo will match the 49-year-old if makes his World Cup Ghana as expected this summer. The Black Stars have been placed in Group L alongside birth country England, Croatia and Panama.
When he signed for City, Semenyo spoke of his dream to play in the Champions League and to hear the iconic music as he lined up on the pitch.
“Always as a kid you've always dreamed to play in the Champions League," he told City's official website.
"I thank God I've got the opportunity now. Hopefully we get through to the next phase, and it would be a dream of mine just to hear the music to work on the pitch just even little things like playing with the footballs. It's a dream come true."
Guehi, City's other marquee January addition, also made his Champions League debut in Madrid.
Source: YEN.com.gh
