Former Champions League winner tips Osimhen to inspire Napoli to victory

Serie A top scorer Victor Osimhen

Former Champions League winner tips Osimhen to inspire Napoli to victory

Izuchukwu Akawor 13:05 - 18.04.2023

Victor Osimhen is back from injury and has been tipped to help his club SSC Napoli survive AC Milan in the Champions League quarterfinal.

Nigerian international Victor Osimhen has been tipped to play a decisive role in the all-important quarterfinal second leg clash between SSC Napoli and AC Milan on Tuesday.

This is coming from former Champions League winner and Napoli manager, Rafa Benitez, who has predicted that the Serie A leaders will overcome Milan in the second leg.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ug/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Osimhen returned from injury at the weekend and has trained again ahead of the game in Naples after he missed the first leg in San Siro last week.

The Nigerian forward missed the encounter due to a muscle problem which he picked up during the last international break while on duty with the Nigeria Super Eagles.

Champions League
Milan defeated Napoli 1-0 in the first-leg of the Champions League quarterfinal stage

Napoli more confident with Osimhen

Ahead of the Champions League quarterfinal decider between his former club Napoli and Milan, Benitez tipped the 24-year-old to be an important difference.

According to the Spaniard, both Italian clubs have impressed him in the Champions League this but he believes Napoli are the stronger of the two and more confident with their Nigerian superstar on the pitch.

Napoli vs MIlan
Rafa Benitez has named Napol has favourites to go through in the Champions League.

“Milan and Napoli have impressed me,” Benitez said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport per Football Italia.

“But the Azzurri are stronger and I believe they can make it. With Victor Osimhen, they’ll be more confident,” he added.

https://twitter.com/en_sscnapoli/status/1648272815471181824?s=20

Osimhen’s absence cost Napoli

The 24-year-old has been an important player this season for the Serie A leaders, who are looking to make history across the league and in Europe.

Osimhen has scored 21 goals in the Serie A and added five more in the Champions League to help the club from Naples come closer to their goals this season.

Osimhen returned from an injury layoff for Napoli
Napoli lost two of four matches without Nigeria's Osimhen.

However, after the international break, the in-demand forward was ruled out due to a muscle problem after he featured for Nigeria in the double-header against Guinea-Bissau.

In his absence. Luciano Spalletti and his teammates failed to shine, losing to Milan twice before he finally made his return from the bench at the weekend.

Spalletti will be the happiest to have his main man back and will be hoping the forward can fire the club to a historic semifinal spot in the Champions League.

Related content