Nigeria-eligible goalkeeper Noah Atubolu makes his Europa League debut for Freiburg

GERMAN-born Nigeria-eligible goalkeeper Noah Atubolu could end up facing Manchester United or Arsenal in the Europa League later on this season after he made his debut in the competition for his German club Freiburg on Thursday.

Atubolu, 20, made his European debut for German Bundesliga club Freiburg in a 1-1 draw with Qarabag FK on match day six of the Europa League. Currently on the fringes of the first team, the young goalkeeper finally got his chance in the Europa League with qualification to the last 16 as Group G winners guaranteed before the trip to Azerbaijan.

Touted as the top teenage goalkeeper in European football that could potentially play for Nigeria's senior national team, Atubolu made his senior debut for Freiburg last month when he started against St Pauli in the second round of the German cup. He returned to the starting line-up against Qarabag FK, with Freiburg manager Christian Streich opting to rest 10 of his starters against Schalke 04.

During his debut on Thursday, Atubolu made a vital intervention to prevent Qarabag from taking the lead in the fifth minute when he saved a shot from Ghana international Owusu Kwabena. In his nine appearances for Freiburg II in the third tier of German football, Atubolu has kept five clean sheets while conceding 10 goals.