There isn't a sporting tournament on the planet quite like the UEFA Champions League.

Every single season, the very best players on the planet compete against each other to try and win the coveted 'big ears' trophy.

It's a competition where the elite thrive and it's also a place where youngsters can make a huge name for themselves.

Scoring in the Champions League as a teenager? It's the stuff of dreams, but it doesn't always guarantee a path to the very top.

Below, we've provided the competition's 11 youngest goal scorers in the 21st century and detailed how their careers have panned out since their moments of glory.

The Champions League ball

Ansu Fati | Barcelona

Age: 17 years 01 months 09 days

Game: Inter Milan 1-2 Barcelona*, December 2019

The Blaugrana starlet became the youngest goal scorer in Champions League history when he scored against Inter Milan back in December.

Fati is now a regular in Barca's first-team and the sky really is the limit for the lightning-quick winger.

Mateo Kovacic | Chelsea

Age: 17 years 07 months 01 day

Game: Dinamo Zagreb* 1-7 Lyon, December 2011

After wowing as a teenager in his native Croatia, Kovacic was signed by Inter Milan in the summer of 2013.

The silky midfielder impressed in Italy, so much so that Real Madrid came calling two years later. However, it was a move that backfired, with Kovacic unable to break into the Los Blancos first-team on a consistent basis.

Chelsea took him on loan for the 2018/19 season and eventually signed him permanently last year. Kovacic is now regarded as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.

Kovacic with Chelsea

Cesc Fabregas | AS Monaco

Age: 17 years 07 months 03 days

Game: Arsenal* 5-1 Rosenborg, December 2004

The Spaniard broke into Arsenal's first-team as a 16-year-old and went on to cement his status as a club legend.

He left for Barcelona in 2011, before returning to the Premier League with Chelsea three years later.

After five successful seasons with the Blues, Fabregas opted to move to Monaco where he's seeing out the remaining years of his career.

Bojan Krkic | Montreal Impact

Age: 17 years 07 moths 04 days

Game: Schalke 0-1 Barcelona*, April 2008

So much was expected of Bojan. Sadly, the Spaniard failed to live up to expectation after bursting onto the scene as a teenager at Barcelona in 2007.

The Blaugrana eventually sold him to Roma, before an ill-fated move to Stoke City in 2014.

English football wasn't kind to Bojan and after loan spells at Mainz and Alaves, the 29-year-old was eventually sold to Montreal Impact in 2019.

Bojan with Barcelona

Martin Klein | Without a club

Age: 17 years 07 months 25 days

Game: Panathinaikos 2-1 Sparta Pague*, February 2002

Just over a year after scoring in the Champions League as a teenager, Klein was sold by Sparta Prague to fellow Czech side FK Teplice.

The centre-back enjoyed a decent seven-year spell with the club and then decided to go full journeyman.

Since 2010, the now 36-year-old has played for 11 different clubs, with his most recent being German sixth-tier side Kickers Selb. According to Transfermarkt, he's now a free agent.

Breel Embolo | Borussia Monchengladbach

Age: 17 years 08 months 21 days

Game: Basel* 4-0 Ludogorets, November 2014

Embolo was one of the most sought after players in the world after impressing at FC Basel.

Schalke were the ones who acquired his signature in 2016, but a host of injuries curtailed the Swiss forward's three-year stint with the club.

The 23-year-old has finally found his feet again at Monchengladbach, scoring eight goals and contributing with five assists in 28 Bundesliga games this season.

Embolo with Basel

Aaron Ramsey | Juventus

Age: 17 years 09 months 25 days

Game: Fenerbahce 2-5 Arsenal*, October 2008

He turned out alright, didn't he?

Ramsey is widely recognised as one of Arsenal's greatest players of the modern era, scoring 65 goals in 371 games for the club.

The Welshman signed for Juventus on a free transfer last summer, but has found the going tough out in Turin.

Karim Benzema | Real Madrid

Age: 17 years 11 months 17 days

Game: Lyon* 2-1 Rosenborg, December 2005

One of the greatest players in the history of the Champions League and a Real Madrid legend.

The Frenchman has scored 65 goals in Europe's elite competition in just 120 games and has also lifted the trophy on four separate occasions with Los Blancos.

Oh and he's also scored 249 goals for Real Madrid since signing for the club in 2009 - not bad, eh?

Benzema with Lyon

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | Liverpool

Age: 18 years 01 month 13 days

Game: Arsenal* 2-1 Olympiakos, September 2011

Injuries meant Oxlade-Chamberlain never really fulfilled his potential at Arsenal.

He still managed to seal a big-money move to Liverpool in 2017, winning the Champions League in his second season with the club.

However, he's failed to nail down a spot in Jurgen Klopp's starting XI and you start to wonder whether the 26-year-old will ever make the most of his enormous talent.

Mariyan Ognyanov | Hansa Friesoythe 

Age: 18 years 01 month 28 days

Game: Levski Sofia* 1-3 Chelsea, September 2006

The now 32-year-old Bulgarian midfielder didn't exactly set the world alight after scoring against Chelsea nearly 14 years ago.

Ognyanov is now playing in the German Bezirksliga - the seventh-tier of football in the country - after uninspiring spells with Bulgarian clubs Botev Plovdiv, Neftochimic Burgas, Cherno More and CSKA 1948.

He has one cap for the Bulgarian national side, coming on as a substitute in a friendly against Macedonia in August 2013.

Ognyanov in action

Kylian Mbappe | Paris Saint-Germain

Age: 18 years 02 months 01 day

Game: Manchester City 5-3 AS Monaco*, February 2017

To say Mbappe has thrived since announcing himself to the world in the 2016/17 season would be the understatement of the century.

The 21-year-old has won three Ligue 1 titles, two French Cups and - of course - the World Cup with France.

He's also scored 19 goals in his first 32 Champions League games. Not bad Kylian, not bad at all.