Osimhen caged as Barcelona blitz past Napoli to reach UCL quarterfinals

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen failed to score as Napoli fell to a 3-1 defeat at Barcelona in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 fixture, Soccernet.ng reports.

After playing out a 1-1 draw with Barcelona in Naples two weeks ago, Napoli travelled to Spain to play the second leg in a winner-takes-all encounter.

The Catalonians dominated the first leg, but they had to settle for a draw. And in the second leg, they were slight favourites.

Coach Francesco Calzona included Osimhen in his starting lineup to lead his attack with the support cast of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Matteo Politano.

Barcelona got on the front foot very early, and they stormed to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Fermin Lopez and Joao Cancelo.

However, Napoli pulled one back through Amir Rrahmani in the 30th minute to give Napoli a chance. Osimhen had just one shot on target in the first half, but he was unable to help the Partenopeans draw level before the break.

In the second half, Barcelona still dominated and created the better chances. Osimhen had very little time on the ball as Barcelona bossed the possession. Osimhen had 29 touches on the ball, but most of them were outside the box.

The Partenopeans still had little hope of qualifying, but Robert Lewandowski put those hopes to bed in the 83rd minute, as he combined well with Sergi Roberto to score the third.

It eventually ended 3-1 to Barcelona and 4-2 on aggregate. As it stands, there is no Nigerian player in the Champions League.