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The Napoli striker could go on to seal his status as the top Nigerian striker in the Champions League after scoring against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Victor Osimhen is chasing Obafemi Martins’ record in the Champions League and UEFA club competitions after scoring for Napoli in their 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Osimhen has been unstoppable in front of goal this season, and he continued in the same vein on Tuesday night as Napoli took control of their Champions League round of 16 clash against Frankfurt.
Osimhen scored the first goal before Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored the second to send Luciano Spalletti’s men back to Naples with a comfortable two-goal lead.
Osimhen’s goal was his second in the Champions League this season and fourth overall in the competition’s history.
Osimhen moves closer to Martins
This draws him closer to Nigeria’s all-time leading top scorer in the Champions League, Obafemi Martins.
Martins is currently the country’s top scorer in Europe’s elite club competition, but he only scored ten goals, including one in qualifying.
Martins scored nine goals in nine goals in 34 Champions League games and one in three Champions League qualifiers.
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Osimhen is on course to surpass Martins’ number, having already scored four goals in his second season in the Champions League.
The 24-year-old opened his Champions League account at Lille against Valencia in 2019. Osimhen went on to score another goal for Les Dogues against Chelsea to finish with two goals in five Champions League appearances for Lille.
For Napoli, Osimhen has two goals in four matches in his first Champions League experience with the club.
The Nigeria international opened his account against Ajax before scoring his second against Frankfurt on Tuesday night.
Osimhen currently sits joint-fifth in the list of top-scoring Nigerians in the Champions League, with four goals, six behind Martins at the top.
The quartet of Julius Aghahowa, Emmanuel Emenike, Victor Ikepba and Aiyegbeni are joint-second with seven goals, including qualifying.
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Super Eagles' current captain Ahmed Musa sits alone in third place with six goals while Nwankwo Kanu, Brown Ideye and Emmanuel Dennis are joint-fourth with five goals apiece.
Anthony Nawakaeme, Michael Obiku and Osimhen round up the top five with four goals each.
He has already surpassed Jay-Jay Okocha, who has just a solitary goal in 12 Champions League games.
Osimhen still far away in UEFA club competitions
However, across all European club competitions, Osimhen still has a long way to go before catching Martins and he is also behind Okocha.
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Osimhen has scored eight goals in all UEFA club competitions, 15 behind Martins who is also Nigeria’s leading scorer in UEFA Club competitions. The Nigerian has four goals in the Europa League, in addition to his four in the Champions League.
Shola Ameobi is second behind Martins with 15 goals for Newcastle while Victor Ikpeba is third with 13 goals.
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Surprisingly, Okocha’s 13 goals put him joint-fourth with Yakubu Aiyegbeni, despite scoring just one goal in the Champions League.
Michael Obiku and Paul Onuachu are joint-fifth with 12 goals while the trio of Leke James, Joseph Akpala and Olanrewaju Kayode are sixth with 11 goals apiece.
However, Osimhen is on course to eclipse all of them if he continues at this rate as he only needs 16 goals to bump Martins off the top spot.
Stats Source: UEFA.
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