Real Madrid’s midweek nightmare Emmanuel Dennis has been nominated for the UEFA Champions League Player of the Match-day 2 after his exploits at the Santiago Bernabeu with Club Brugge.
Super Eagles one-cap star Emmanuel Dennis Bonaventure is in line to become the first Nigeria player to win the Champions League Player of the Week this season after he was named alongside Barcelona’s Luiz Suarez and Bayern Munich’s Sergei Gnabry as the brightest stars of Match Day 2.
The Nigerian fired a fine brace at Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night to help Club Brugge claim an unexpected 2-2 draw that left the former Champions League champions winless in Europe this season.
Also in contention are Bayern Munich Serge Gnabry who scored four goals against Tottenham Hotspur and Moroccan international and Borussia Dortmund star Hakimi after his fantastic brace shot down Slavia Prague.
❓❓❓ Who ya got ❓❓❓
⭐ Luis Suarez
⭐ Emmanuel Bonaventure
⭐ Achraf Hakimi
⭐ Serge Gnabry#UCL | #POTW | @FTBSantander— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) October 2, 2019
The winner is to be announced this weekend.
Meanwhile, Dennis took time to explain the reason behind his reenactment of the Cristiano’s Ronaldo trademark celebration at the Bernabeu.
✅ SCORES A BRACE Vs Madrid ⚽⚽
✅ HITS the CR7 celebration
Emmanuel Dennis IS A SAVAGE 😎#UCL pic.twitter.com/r9NDb96Gom
— TREQUARTISTA (@A55KIKR) October 1, 2019
The Nigerian star, after grabbing his second of the night ran towards the Madrid fans and showed off Ronaldo’s iconic ‘Siii’ celebration.
Dennis said it was his long-standing admiration for the Portuguese superstar that gave him the motivation to celebrate like his hero.
‘I’ve been a Cristiano fan forever and I was very upset when he left Madrid,’ Dennis commented after the game.
“So I decided that if I scored in the Bernabeu, that’s what I’d do.
“Everyone expected them to beat us easily. We prepared for them, we believed and we had a good feeling.”
“We train a lot, we train hard and we came here to make Ramos and Varane run,” Dennis added.
“They are defenders – defenders don’t like to run!
“Most teams come here and play in a block, but we broke from the block and worked like mad.”