Rising star O’Connell takes on Europe’s finest in Uefa’s Youth League

All adventures must come to an end, yet Eoghan O’Connell isn’t too downbeat about his Uefa Champions League ride fizzling out in Barcelona.

The Cork youngster has started every game for Celtic in the first year of the Uefa Youth League, which has been nicknamed the ‘mini Champions League’ as it caters for U19 players.

Paired with European heavyweights Barcelona, AC Milan and Ajax, the fight to reach the knockout stages was always going to be a tough one for O’Connell and his team-mates.