The Italian tactician benched his star man on the night, but when the situation went out of control, he had to introduce his number one talisman
Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti has revealed that Osimhen did not start the game against Cagliari because the Super Eagles star was not fully fit.
Napoli went away to Cagliari on Monday, but Spalletti named a weak starting eleven for the game. The absence of the usual suspects was duly felt as Napoli looked out of sorts.
The situation got worse when Cagliari took the lead in the 58th minute. Still, after conceding, they looked lacklustre.
Spalletti had to call on Osimhen, and the 23-year-old was on hand to save the day.
His decision to bench Osimhen was questioned, but the former boss revealed that Osimhen was not fully fit for that game, and playing him was a big risk.
“We have to be happy with the result because it happens to everyone after these Europa League games,” Spalletti told DAZN as per Football Italia.
“We did too little in terms of quality. Don’t say it’s everyone anymore, every time it happens in two days, we lose 4-5 players.
“It was good of Osimhen to be available at the last second, he was at risk of not being in the game.” He added.
Napoli welcome Barcelona in the return leg of their Europa League playoff on Thursday, and Spalletti will hope that his talisman is fit as a fiddle for the game.
This post was last modified on February 22, 2022 1:40 pm