Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola failed to contain their excitement after deploying youngsters in their respective EFL Cup ties on Wednesday night.
Klopp played Calvin Ramsay, Stefan Bajcetic, Bobby Clark, Melkamu Frauendorf, Layton Rhys Stewart and Ben Doak in Liverpool's victory against Derby at Anfield. The Reds won 3-2 on penalties thanks to Caoimhin Kelleher's heroics after the game finished goalless.
Guardiola started Rico Lewis and Cole Palmer in Manchester City's 2-0 win against Chelsea at the Etihad. The Spaniard deployed a strong team to face Graham Potter's side and was rewarded with second-half goals from Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez.
Of all the youngsters on show at Anfield, it was Doak who garnered the most attention. The Scotland youth international, who turns 17 on Friday, left Celtic for Liverpool in March and made his Merseyside debut as a second-half substitute on Wednesday night.
"That's Ben," said Klopp when asked about Doak's performance. "His instructions were easy: do what you do all the time. He is really a lively boy, a smart player, good dribbler, fast, can use both legs. He’s good. It was nice to watch, really nice to watch - him coming in and immediately a lot of things are obviously natural to him, which is really helpful.
"I am pretty sure his family was here tonight. I can remember when I saw the family at the AXA [training ground] when we signed the boy, how excited everybody was. Now having this night, it’s the next step, it’s cool. He showed up, obviously."
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The youngster that stood out at the Etihad was Lewis, a 17-year-old right-back who is providing competition for Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo. He's now made six appearances for City this season and even scored in the 3-1 win against Sevilla earlier this month.
"He played exceptional," said Guardiola. "He played [aged] 17 years old against Chelsea! When Chelsea have - look at the squad they have and the players they have - and he played so good, really good.
"In this experience... he had to face [Lewis] Hall all the time, but he [also] had to face [Christian] Pulisic or [Hakim] Ziyech or in the second half [Kai] Havertz and Mason Mount. Just live what he lives today for himself to say, 'OK, I can do it for the team'.
"An incredible experience. When you live that, the future will be bright - the future will be better. Of course he has to improve - he's 17 years old - but he played exceptional.
"We can rely on him. Of course we have Kyle coming back [from injury], we have Joao and John Stones in that position. They are better - they are more experienced in everything - but the experience you get is game time and minutes. Of course, I'll do it [play Lewis]."
Klopp and Guardiola must no decide whether to select any of their youngsters in the final round of Premier League fixtures before the World Cup starts. Both teams are back in action on Saturday, with Liverpool hosting Southampton and City welcoming Brentford.
