10. Ander Barrenetxea – 17 years, 4 months, 15 days
Real Sociedad vs Real Madrid (2018/19)
Barrenetxea became LaLiga's first 21st-century-born player in 2018/19. He also scored his first goal for hometown club Real Sociedad – against Real Madrid. In a 3-1 win. Talk about setting yourself up for a fall.
9. Raul – 17 years, 4 months, 10 days
Real Madrid vs Atletico (1994/95)
After impressing for Real Madrid’s reserve sides at the start of the 1994/95 season, Raul was thrown in at the deep end by Jorge Valdano. He started a Madrid derby in just his second league appearance, and repaid his manager’s trust by scoring in a 4-2 win which helped Real win the LaLiga title.
As it turned out, Raul was rather a good player for Madrid, having previously been with their city neighbours: only Cristiano Ronaldo has netted more goals for the club, and the Spanish legend ranks among the five all-time top appearance makers in LaLiga history (550).
8. Juanmi – 17 years, 3 months, 23 days
Malaga vs Real Zaragoza (2010/11)
After making five appearances in 2009/10 and scoring in the Copa del Rey, teenager Juanmi earned more regular minutes with Malaga the following season and netted his first league goal on Matchday 2 against Zaragoza. Better still, his second came just 20 minutes later in a 5-3 win.
The Malaga native signed for Real Betis this summer after a successful three-year stint at Real Sociedad. We’ll quietly ignore his less-heralded 2015/16 at Southampton.
7. Alberto Rivera – 17 years, 3 months, 22 days
Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo (1994/95)
Rivera’s short Real Madrid career could hardly have started better. He made his debut in the same season as Raul and scored against Celta as a substitute in los Blancos’ 2-0 win, towards the end of Real Madrid’s title-winning 1994/95 season.
He never quite made it at Madrid but racked up almost 300 LaLiga appearances elsewhere, representing Numancia, Levante, Real Betis, Sporting Gijon and Elche.
6. Bojan Krkic – 17 years, 1 month, 22 days
Barcelona vs Villarreal (2007/08)
The 2007/08 season was a disappointing one for Barcelona. It wasn’t for Bojan, though, who used it to cement his reputation as one of Europe’s young rising stars.
The Blaugrana’s miserable 3-1 defeat to Villarreal on Matchday 8 was notable only for Bojan’s first goal in Spain’s top division, following a defence-splitting pass from Lionel Messi.
The local boy featured regularly for four seasons before being offloaded to Roma, but rejoined Barça in 2013 after a successful loan spell at Milan. But then came the decline amid a crippling struggle with anxiety: Ajax, Stoke, Mainz, Alaves and, finally, unemployment. He's still only 29.
5. Juan Mena – 17 years, 1 month, 6 days
Valencia vs Celta Vigo (1941/42)
Mena was the league’s youngest scorer for several decades, after netting the seventh goal in a 7-3 Valencia victory on his debut in December 1941.
They went on to claim the LaLiga title that season – the first in club history.
4. Xisco Nadal – 16 years, 11 months, 19 days
Villarreal vs Espanyol (2002/03)
Although he’s spent most of his career in Spanish football’s lower reaches, Nadal touched the sky early on in his career – a last-minute equaliser for Villarreal in their 2-2 draw against Espanyol at the end of the 2002/03 season.
3. Ansu Fati – 16 years, 10 months
Barcelona vs Osasuna (2019/20)
Fati is the latest youngster to burst out of Barcelona’s La Masia academy (and this is everything you need to know about him).
The striker became Barça’s second-youngest player on Matchday 2 against Real Betis, then went one better as the third-youngest goalscorer in LaLiga history with his header against Osasuna; part of a 2-2 draw.
2. Iker Muniain – 16 years, 9 months, 15 days
Athletic vs Real Valladolid (2009/10)
Muniain had actually already scored twice for Athletic by the time he netted his first LaLiga goal; the teenager had made his mark against Young Boys and Austria Wien in Europe at the start of the campaign.
But it wasn’t until Matchday 6 that he netted in a 2-2 draw against Real Valladolid to become LaLiga’s youngest-ever scorer… for a few years, anyway.
1. Fabrice Olinga – 16 years, 3 months, 6 days
Malaga vs Celta Vigo (2012/13)
Clearly, Celta Vigo have been generous to youth over the years. It seems fitting that they were the opposition as Cameroonian forward Olinga made league history on the opening day of the 2012/13 season – smashing Muniain’s record by 191 days.
Olinga had made his way to Malaga via Mallorca after coming through the Samuel Eto'o Foundation, but ultimately struggled to assert himself thereafter. He played only 10 LaLiga matches from 2012-14 before leaving for Apollon Limassol, and you’ll currently find him at Mouscron in Belgium.
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