After making his return for Napoli with a goal that gave the Italian champions a 1-1 draw with Barcelona and faith that a terrible season could have reached a turning point, Victor Osimhen was hailed as “a huge player.”
In his first game back from the Africa Cup of Nations, Nigerian attacker Osimhen scored the equalizer with fifteen minutes remaining in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 match at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
With Napoli’s first and only target on goal, the 25-year-old equalized Robert Lewandowski’s first goal from the 60th minute, which looked to be the game-winning strike as Barca dominated the whole game.
Osimhen had last appeared for Napoli in a 2-0 loss to Roma shortly before Christmas, where he was one of two players sent off. His 9th club goal of the season came at an important time for Napoli, who were facing elimination from the league and were playing under their third manager of the season, Francesco Calzona.
After taking over for Walter Mazzarri on Monday night, Calzona had less than 48 hours to be ready for his first game in charge. Osimhen gave Napoli a chance to advance even though his team played poorly.