Karim Adeyemi: ‘Our defence did a great job’ against Victor Osimhen

Barcelona star Karim Adeyemi has shared his thoughts on Super Eagles forward Victor Osimhen’s performance in Tuesday’s Champions League victory over Galatasaray.

Both sides met at Rams Park in Istanbul for their second match of the ongoing Champions League season, with the Spanish giants recording an emphatic 4-1 win. The result gave Barcelona their second victory in the competition, while Galatasaray remain without a win after two games.

Aleksey Bakaratov had given the hosts the lead, and they thought they had doubled their advantage when Osimhen’s goal-bound header was helped into the net by Baris Alper Yilmaz. However, the goal was ruled out for offside against the Turkish forward.

Barcelona responded strongly, with Joao Cancelo restoring parity just before halftime. Fermin Lopez, Anthony Gordon and Adeyemi, who came on in the second half, completed an emphatic victory for the visitors, who now have two wins from two in the competition.

Galatasaray, meanwhile, remain without a win in both of their matches after also losing 3-1 to Sporting CP in their opening game last month.

Karim Adeyemi on how Barcelona stopped Victor Osimhen’s threat

While Karim Adeyemi enjoyed an impressive outing scoring just six minutes after coming on, Victor Osimhen, who had been backed to enjoy a productive outing, endured a difficult night in front of goal and was barely involved as Galatasaray struggled to create clear-cut chances.

Speaking exclusively to Soccernet.ng, Adeyemi was asked about facing a striker of Osimhen’s quality and how Barcelona managed to contain his threat and while the German forward praised the Nigerian’s quality, he also credited his side’s defence for limiting his impact on the game.

“It’s always nice to see Nigerian players on the big stage. I always feel happy for them, but I think our defence did a great job yesterday, and it was very hard for him to make any serious impact”, Adeyemi told Soccernet.ng.

Winning mentality key to Barcelona’s success

Barcelona have now won all 10 of their matches across all competitions this season, with their latest victory coming against Galatasaray in Istanbul.

The Spanish giants have made an impressive start to the campaign, winning their opening two Champions League games and scoring nine goals in the process. They will now look to maintain that momentum as they chase their first Champions League title since 2015.

When asked how important the comeback victory over Galatasaray was and what it said about Barcelona’s ambitions this season, Adeyemi, who joined the club in the summer from Borussia Dortmund, pointed to the winning mentality within the squad.

He also explained that the team's performances reflect their desire to compete for every available trophy.

“You see how we play, with a winning mentality, and our performance shows we want to win everything. You see this in every match. No retreat. No surrender”, he added.

Barcelona will return to Champions League action on October 20 when they face reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain in a more difficult test, as they will be hoping to maintain their impressive start to the competition and continue their push for European glory.