Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hailed Max Dowman’s “unteachable” talent after the England youth international became the youngest player ever to feature in a Champions League game at 15 years and 308 days.

Dowman came on in the 72nd minute of the 3-0 win against Slavia Prague on Tuesday, replacing Leandro Trossard in midfield.

“The first ball he gets, he takes people on. He starts to dribble and gets a foul. That is personality, that is courage,” said Arteta.

“You cannot teach that. You either have it or you don’t. It doesn’t matter what his passport says, you throw him in this context and he is able to adapt and have a good performance.

“We have a massive player there.”

Dowman was already the youngest Arsenal player to start a match, doing so in the League Cup against Brighton & Hove Albion six days earlier.

He made his first-team debut in July and Premier League debut in August, the second youngest in the league’s history after clubmate Ethan Nwaneri.

Nwaneri, who also played in Prague on Tuesday, was 15 years and 181 days old when he made his top-flight debut with Arsenal in 2022.

In the Champions League, Dowman took the record previously set by Youssoufa Moukoko at 16 years and 18 days with Borussia Dortmund in 2020.

Mikel Merino, who scored two second-half goals before Dowman came on, was also full of praise for a player who has been on Arsenal’s books since 2015.

“Every time he steps on the grass he’s just an amazing player to watch.

‘‘You see him with a flair, with energy and with confidence in his game.

‘‘It is lovely to see him perform,” said the Spaniard.

Meanwhile, Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique said his team handed Bayern Munich “big gifts” in their 2-1 Champions League defeat on Tuesday but insisted he was not looking for excuses despite mounting injuries within the defending champions’ squad.

PSG were overwhelmed in the first half, falling 2-0 behind after a Luis Diaz double before the Colombian winger was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Achraf Hakimi, who had to be replaced before the break, following Ousmane Dembele back into the dressing room.

“We’ll have to wait until tomorrow after the tests,” Luis Enrique told a press conference.

“Ousmane’s injury has nothing to do with the previous one. It’s football – a contact sport. It’s unlucky because it’s complicated for the player, but these things happen like it happened to (Bayern’s) Jamal Musiala (against PSG at the Club World Cup last July).”

PSG have been ravaged by injuries this season with Dembele, Desire Doue, Bradley Barcola, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz all being sidelined.

While Luis Enrique admitted he needed to manage his squad better, he was not looking for excuses.

“In the first half, they were better than us. They created more chances, and we made some big gifts,” the Spaniard said.

“When you make that kind of gifts to players like this, it’s normal to lose the match – we could even have conceded more goals.”

PSG improved after the break but were unable to convert long spells of possession into goals.

“We did the job well in the second half and could have drawn the game,” Luis Enrique said.

Despite the setback, the coach said he remained calm.

“I can’t remember a single match this season with the whole team fit,” he said.

“We have to manage that. I’m not looking for excuses – it’s our responsibility to do better.

‘‘I’m calm and confident we’ll recover our players and our level. We’ve still played some very good matches.” – Reuters