Victor Boniface's injury: 17yo Nigerian forward makes Champions League debut for Leverkusen

Talented German-born Nigerian forward Francis Onyeka made his UEFA Champions League debut for Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday as the Bundesliga champions thrashed Salzburg 5-0 at the BayArena, allnigeriasoccer.com reports. 

At just 17 years old, Onyeka is officially recognized as one of the top talents in German football, having received the Fritz Walter Medal, the most prestigious individual award in German youth football, from the German Football Association last month.

The absence of six first-team players saw manager Xabi Alonso promote the Germany youth international to the senior squad for the game against Salzburg.

Due to injury, Super Eagles star Victor Boniface was among the players not available for selection, alongside Amine Adli, Jonas Hofmann, Nordi Mukiele, Jeanuël Belocian and Martin Terrier.

Goals from Florian Wirtz (2), Alejandro Grimaldo, Patrik Schick, and Aleix Garcia gave Bayer Leverkusen a commanding five-goal lead after seventy-one minutes.

With the outcome of the game all but decided, Alonso gave Onyeka his Champions League debut, bringing him on to replace Florian Wirtz in the 76th minute. 

Onyeka, who has been tipped as a player for the future following his eye-catching displays for Germany and Bayer Leverkusen's youth teams, made his professional debut in a DFB-Pokal match versus SV Elversberg on October 29, playing the last three minutes of a 3-0 win. 

He has received ten call-ups for first team games, comprising five in the Bundesliga, three in the UEFA Champions League, and two in the DFB-Pokal.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: bayer04.de

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