Costa makes long-awaited Champions League debut

Jaume Costa had some unfinished business with the Champions League, and the game against Ajax allowed him to make his long overdue debut in the European club competition.

The fullback could have made a first appearance on the biggest stage in club football 12 years ago, but never made it off the bench. A series of circumstances experienced since then meant he had to wait over a decade for another opportunity.

In the 2007/08 season, when playing for VCF Mestalla, Costa was called up by Valencia CF coach Ronald Koeman to travel with the first team to London. Whilst included in the squad for the game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, alongside other youth talents Montoro and Lombán, he would not feature in that game.

With Villarreal CF, he took part in a playoff for a place in the 2016/17 edition of the Champions League, but his team were eliminated by AS Monaco and he missed out on minutes in the tournament proper.

Against Ajax, he finally got his chance, and was active throughout the game in a good performance that ultimately went unrewarded.

Thierry also enjoys first minutes in the Champions League

Also making his debut was Thierry Correia, who came on in the 70th minute in place of Francis Coquelin. He had previously played in the Europa League for Sporting CP last season, and made another step up with Valencia CF on Wednesday night.