Ademola Lookman provided the 50th assist of his senior club career in the UEFA Champions League, while Mubarak Suleiman matched a record held by Alex Iwobi for Nigerian teenagers in the competition.
Lookman came on at half-time for Atletico Madrid, who trailed Stuttgart 1-0. Barely a minute into the second half, the Super Eagles forward found Julian Alvarez unmarked in the area, and the Argentine swept in the equaliser 80 seconds after the restart.
It was Alvarez’s first goal of the season, in a campaign that followed a summer of transfer speculation as Barcelona tried to lure him from Atletico.
Lookman now has 50 assists in senior club football, according to Transfermarkt.
Stuttgart had dominated the first half and went ahead in the 36th minute through Jamie Leweling, who struck low from the edge of the area. Atletico then lost midfielder Morten Hjulmand to a red card in the 64th minute for a reckless challenge on Angelo Stiller. The 10 men held on for a point, and Stuttgart defender Jeff Chabot headed wide from a Maximilian Mittelstadt corner, their best late chance, in a 1-1 draw.
Suleiman, meanwhile, became the first Nigerian teenager to start a Champions League game since Iwobi did so for Arsenal against Barcelona in March 2016, according to Opta Joe. #
The Slavia Prague youngster started in the 2-2 draw away to Fenerbahce at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Tuesday night.
The 19-year-old made two key passes and six accurate passes into the final third before he was replaced by Pavel Kacor with five minutes remaining. He has one goal and one assist in eight appearances across all competitions this season.
Slavia, who had never taken a point in this season’s competition, recovered from 2-0 down after only 11 minutes, with Oguz Aydin and Mason Greenwood scoring for Fenerbahce. Lukas Provod pulled one back in the 15th minute after Matteo Guendouzi misplaced a pass, and Kacor levelled with an acrobatic volley in the 90th minute. The 20-year-old scored his first senior goal for the club from a cross by Nigerian teammate Emmanuel Ayaosi.
Suleiman had been expected to feature for the Super Eagles in their friendly against Russia but withdrew from the squad. He will be keen to continue his progress for Slavia as he seeks a return to the national team.