Victor Osimhen was back with a bang after finding the back of the net in Napoli’s 1-1 draw with Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday night.
The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) runner-up was left out of the Partenopei’s weekend Serie A game against Genoa which also ended 1-1 as he was not fit enough after an exhausting 29 days in Ivory Coast.
Napoli were under a new manager on the interim in Francesco Calzona after Walter Wazzari, also on the interim, was sacked on Monday.
The defending Serie A champions fell behind to Robert Lewandowski’s goal in the 60th minute and just when it seemed Napoli were going to lose at home, Osimhen popped up with the equaliser with 12 minutes left after which he was substituted off for Giovanni Simeone.
Osimhen’s goal was his second goal in the Champions League this season having scored against Braga in the group stage. He also has one assist against the same opponent.
The 27-year-old has a total of nine career Champions League goals, seven of which have come for Napoli while the other two were with Lille during his only season with the French club in 2019-20.
Of Osimhen’s seven Napoli goals, six of them have come at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, all of them ironically coming in Napoli’s last six home games in the European elite competition.
He is level with club legend Lorenzo Insigne for most Champions League home goals scored for Napoli and is only behind all-time top scorer Dries Mertens’ tally of 11 goals.
6 – Victor Osimhen has scored six home goals in #UCL with Napoli (all in the last six home games), joining Lorenzo Insigne in terms of goals in home games with the Partenopei in the competition; only Dries Mertens (11) did better. Certainty.#NapoliBarcelona
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) February 21, 2024
Osimhen will now turn his attention to Serie A action this weekend when Napoli travel to Cagliari.
