Svilar was just 18 when he dropped a clanger on his Champions League debut – here’s what’s happened to him since then…
There are few roles in football filled with the pressure that being a goalkeeper brings. It’s a thankless job and one that can go either really right or really wrong. Unfortunately for Mile Svilar, it went really wrong when he faced Manchester United in the Champions League during the 2017/18 campaign. At 18 years old, he became the youngest goalkeeper to ever play in the competition.
For the most part, his performance against the Red Devils wasn’t too bad. He made some neat saves and dealt with a lot of the United offense fairly comfortably, but he looked shaky aerially and dealing with crosses into the area. Despite looking faily solid throughout, it was all undone after he made an absolute howler, conceding the only goal of the game.After United won a free-kick towards the left-hand touchline, Marcus Rashford whipped a fierce ball into the area and Svilar caught it fairly routinely. Sounds fine, doesn’t it? Well, unfortunately, the goalkeeper was moving backwards as he caught the ball and the momentum saw him actually carry it into his own goal. It was a disastrous way to end what had been an impressive showing against the Red Devils, and it was hard not to feel sorry for him afterwards. That’s what some of the United players clearly thought, anyway.
His moment with Romelu Lukaku after the game went viralMaking a mistake like that in such a close contest had to have been heartbreaking for Svilar and some of the United players sympathised with him after the game. Romelu Lukaku in particular made a point to approach the youngster shortly after the full-time whistle and console him.
It was a classy moment from the Belgian striker and one that quickly went viral as the footage emerged online. It’s a small action from the former United striker, but one that will have had a huge impact on the goalkeeper at the time. Lukaku wasn’t the only Red Devil to take the time to talk to Svilar afterwards, though, with David de Gea also seen speaking to him in the video. Fair play to him, though, despite being just 18 years old and making the mistake that saw his side lose the game, the keeper showed incredible bravery and maturity, conducting a post-match interview on the night and refusing to shy away from the media.
It would have been real easy for Svilar’s head to drop after the incident and for his confidence to plummet, but he bounced back quite quickly and maybe this moment had something to do with that.He saved a penalty in his next Champions League game against United
After making the costly mistake during his Champions League debut against United, the 18-year-old was determined to give a better account the next time around, and he did just that. Despite conceding two this time, in a 2-0 loss to the Red Devils, he also had his moment to shine, saving a penalty early on to deny Anthony Martial.The scores were still tied at the time, making the moment a huge one for the keeper. With that being said, Svilar was left with egg on his face once again, this time for scoring an own goal. After Nemanja Matic took aim from distance, his ferocious effort had the keeper beat but struck the post. It came back and ricocheted off the back of the 18-year-old, though, and bounced into the net to give the Red Devils the lead.
There was nothing he could do, and the goal wasn’t the result of a mistake he’d made, it was just unfortunate luck and, for the second Champions League game in a row, he was on the wrong end of an embarrassing mishap.
He spent the next five years with BenficaConsidering he was trusted with Champions League football at just 18 years old, you’d be forgiven for assuming that Svilar was destined for great things at Benfica. After all, it says a lot when the club turns to someone so young to take part in such a big tournament, but things never really got completely off the ground for him in Portugal.
The Serbian spent five years with Benfica, but saw very limited action in the league during that time. In fact, the majority of his appearances actually came in cup competitions. He still played just 22 times across his entire tenure in Portugal, though, and things didn’t quite pan out the way many expected.He signed with Roma in 2022 and teamed up with Lukaku
Life has an interesting way of shaking out and in 2022, Svilar signed a deal with AS Roma, joining Jose Mourinho’s side in Italy. The Special One had coincidentally been the United manager during the keeper’s appearances against them in the Champions League at just 18 years old and, despite the mistake he made in the first tie, the Portuguese manager clearly saw something in him.Life came full circle this summer, as Lukaku joined Roma, reuniting with his former manager Mourinho, but also teaming up with the former promising prospect who he had consoled all those years earlier. The Belgian has hit the ground running with Roma too, proving to be an instant success in the process.
Svilar, on the other hand, has had to wait for his opportunities, playing just four times in his debut campaign at the club, but this season, he has been entrusted to play the majority of the club’s European games. He recently made headlines too with an incredible save during the club’s Europa League match against Servette.
It might not quite be the career he expected, but at just 24 years old, Svilar still has so much more room for development, and he isn’t even close to becoming the player he will one day be remembered for.