Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri has explained that Victor Osimhen did not start Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League game against Real Madrid because he is still not fit enough.
The Nigerian striker made his comeback off the bench against Atalanta at the weekend after missing nine games for both club and country.
He came on at the start of the second half for Giovanni Simeone but it was not enough to give Napoli the needed victory as they lost 4-2. Mazzarri will now set sights on using Osimhen for the weekend’s crunch Serie A match with Inter Milan.
“Osimhen didn’t have much playing time in him. We agreed with the doctors that he could play half an hour,” Mazzarri told the club website.
“We decided to play him for a full half so he could get recover for the match against Inter. We didn’t want to force it because he’s coming back from injury and he’s got to get back to top condition gradually.”
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Napoli will be guaranteed of their place in the Round of 16 with a draw against Braga in their final Group C match in a fortnight.
