Victor Osimhen has admitted that the return leg of the UEFA Champions League clash between Galatasaray S.K. and Liverpool F.C. will be a difficult contest despite his side’s narrow victory in the first meeting, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

The Nigeria national football team striker played a key role as Galatasaray secured a slim advantage over the Premier League outfit in the first leg, strengthening their hopes of progressing to the next round of the competition.

Speaking after the match, Osimhen acknowledged the challenge awaiting the Turkish champions in the return fixture at Anfield.

“The return leg next week will be difficult, but I have faith in my lads. I'm proud to have won today,” Osimhen said.

The 25-year-old also expressed his happiness since arriving at Galatasaray, praising the club’s supporters for the warm welcome extended to him and his family.

“I'm very happy to have come to Galatasaray. I'm grateful for the love they've shown me and my family,” he added.

The decisive second leg will take place at Anfield next week, with the aggregate winner securing a place in the quarter-finals of the competition.

Ademola Lookman was in action as Atletico Madrid defeated Tottenham Hotspur 5–2 in their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first-leg encounter at the Metropolitano Stadium on Tuesday night, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

It was Lookman’s third appearance for the Spanish giants in the competition following his move from Atalanta last month. The 28-year-old has so far registered one goal and one assist for the side managed by Diego Simeone.

The Nigerian international was substituted in the 69th minute and replaced by Pablo Barrios.

Julián Álvarez scored twice for Atletico, while Marcos Llorente, Antoine Griezmann, and Robin Le Normand also got on the scoresheet.

For Tottenham, Pedro Porro and Dominic Solanke found the net.

The second leg of the tie will take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next Tuesday.

Victor Osimhen believes Galatasaray have what it takes to defeat Liverpool FC at Anfield in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

The Turkish giants secured a 1–0 victory in the first leg, with Osimhen providing the assist for the decisive goal scored by Mario Lemina in the seventh minute.

The two sides will meet again in the return fixture next Wednesday, and the Nigeria international remains confident that his team can seal qualification for the quarter-finals.

“We did a very good job today. I think we can hurt Liverpool in the return match. We’ve done a good job so far,” Osimhen was quoted as saying on Galatasaray’s official website.

Before kickoff, Galatasaray supporters unveiled an emotional tifo that portrayed Osimhen alongside his daughter and his late mother, accompanied by the message: “We are family, and family is everything.”

The 27-year-old admitted the moment was deeply emotional for him.

“I’ve been very happy since I arrived wearing this jersey. This jersey is very special. I wanted to do my best for these fans,” Osimhen said.

“I’m experiencing completely different emotions here. I lost my mother at a young age, and the fans made me very happy today. That’s why it’s so important to me. We are a family with the Galatasaray fans.”

Victor Osimhen has set a new record for the most goal involvements by a Nigerian player in a single c campaign, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

According to OptaJoe, the striker reached the milestone after providing an assist in Galatasaray’s 1–0 victory over Liverpool FC in Tuesday’s round of 16 first-leg clash in Turkey.

The Nigerian international has now been involved in eight goals in the competition this season, scoring seven times and registering one assist.

The previous Nigerian record for goal involvements in a single Champions League campaign was six, jointly held by Ademola Lookman (2024/2025), Tijani Babangida (1996/1997), Yakubu Aiyegbeni (2002/2003), and John Utaka (2002/2003).

Osimhen also played a key role in the decisive moment of the match. His header from a corner created the opening that allowed Mario Lemina to score the winning goal in the seventh minute.

The record further highlights Osimhen’s growing influence on the European stage as he continues to deliver outstanding performances for Galatasaray in the competition.

Atalanta head coach Ivan Juric has denied reports of a fallout with Nigerian winger Ademola Lookman following a heated exchange during their UEFA Champions League clash on Wednesday, writes Nigeriasoccernet.com.

Footage from the match appeared to show Juric and Lookman engaging in a brief verbal confrontation as the forward was substituted, sparking media speculation about a possible disagreement between the two.

Addressing the situation after the game, Juric downplayed the incident, insisting that such moments are part of football’s emotional intensity.

“These things happen every Sunday, like the Conte–De Bruyne incident in Naples,” Juric told reporters.
“In the heat of the moment, things can get a bit exaggerated, but it’s resolved in the locker room. Players aren’t always happy with substitutions, and sometimes emotions run high. What matters most is Atalanta and the team’s well-being.”

Lookman, who has been a key player for Atalanta this season, remains an integral part of Juric’s plans. The Nigerian international has contributed several crucial goals and assists in both Serie A and the Champions League, helping the Bergamo side maintain their impressive form domestically and in Europe.

The forward is expected to feature in Atalanta’s upcoming Serie A fixture, as the club continues its push for success on multiple fronts.

Nigeria's Victor Osimhen achieved another landmark achievement, leading Galatasaray SK to victory against Ajax in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

The Super Eagles striker bagged a hat-trick to help the red and gold thrash the Dutch giants at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

After he was Osimhen was denied by a fine save from Remko Pasveer in the first half, which ended goalless, the former African footballer of the year put up a masterclass in the second half.

Galatasaray was ahead early in the second half after Osimhen headed in a wonderful cross from Leroy Sané to open the scoring in the 59th minute.

In the 66th minute, he doubled the score from the spot after a handball before completing his hat-trick in the 78th minute from another penalty.

Osimhen, who was crowned the man of the match, is the second player to score a treble in the Champions League for Galatasaray after Burak Yilmaz against CFR Cluj in 2012.

Osimhen, with his first hat-trick in the Champions League, also has become the Nigerian with the most goals in European club competitions with 25 goals, usurping Obafemi Martins at 23 goals.

Uche Dozie

Nigeria's midfielder, Raphael Onyedika, scored his first UEFA Champions League goal of the season in Club Brugge’s thumping of AS Monaco, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

The Super Eagles Midfielder scored his first Champions League goal of the season in Club Brugge’s 4-1 win over AS Monaco at the Jan Breydel.

An enthralling encounter started with the host on the ascendency, coming close to scoring in four minutes, but Tzolis missed the chance to put his side in front.

In 9 minutes, Monaco had the opportunity to go in front after a penalty, but Mignolet saved the spot kick. Unfortunately, the shot stopper had to be substituted after the save for Jackers after an injury.

The push for a goal continued as the Belgian side created chance after chance until the 32nd minute, when the deadlock was broken through Nicolò Tresoldi.

Onyedika doubled the lead six minutes later before the captain Hans Vanaken put Club Brugge in a comfortable place with the third goal with three minutes left at the end of the first 45 minutes.

Mamadou Diakhon, who came on at the one-hour mark, made it four-nil 15 minutes later to put the game beyond the French side.

Substitute Ansu Fati scored a consolation for Monaco after a minute of additional time as the game ended 4-1.

Uche Dozie

Super Falcons' Rinsola Babajide provided an assist in AS Roma's 2-0 win over FK Aktobe in the UEFA Women's Champions League qualification, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

She provided the assist for the opening goal in the 40th minute, setting up Marta Pandini to break the deadlock.

Just a minute later, Giulia Galli doubled the advantage, sealing the win for the Italian champions before half-time.

The Women's African Cup of Nations winner played for 69 minutes while her compatriot ,Shukurat Oladip,o held it down in defense for 90 minutes.

Uche Dozie

Nigeria Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman moved from hero to villain after side Atalanta BC was knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Club Brugge on Tuesday night, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

The reigning African footballer of the year scored and missed a penalty but failed to save his team from falling 1-3 at the Stadio Citta' Di Bergamo, as their journey ended at the knockout phase play-off stage.

The visitors had scored as early as the 3rd minute of the encounter through 19-year-old Chemsdine Talbi before he doubled the lead in the 27th minute with his second of the night.

Ferran Jutglà's third goal, three minutes after extra time, sealed a perfect first half for the Belgian giants.

Ademola Lookman replied seconds after his half-time introduction before Simon Mignolet saved a Lookman penalty in the 61st minute of the game.

Home captain Rafael Tolói was dismissed late on, compounding the woes of Atalanta.

Uche Dozie

Club Brugge midfielder, Raphael Onyedika has expressed his excitement after scoring his first-ever UEFA Champions League goal against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

Onyedika's strike proved to be a consolation as Brugge lost 3-1 to the Premier League giants on Wednesday night.

The Nigeria international struggled to contain his emotions after the match, telling flashscore "I don't know how to put it, but it's an amazing feeling to score my first goal in City's stadium. I'm so proud."

Onyedika also acknowledged that his side's mistakes proved costly, saying: "We knew it would be difficult after we conceded the first goal; they had more momentum and energy, so it was much more difficult for us because of our mistakes."

By Olujimi Dare Ogun

Nigeria's Ademola Lookman continued his fine form in Atalanta BC's defeat to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

He scored with a beautiful finish, but could not prevent Atalanta from falling to a tough 2-3 home defeat vs Real Madrid in Bergamo.

Kylian Mbappe opened scored in the 10th minute before Charles De Ketelaere restored parity for the hosts after 2 minutes of additional time at the end of the first half.

Vinicius Junior restored Madrid's lead in the 56th minute before Jude Bellingham doubled the lead 3 minutes lead.

Lookman pulled one back for Atalanta BC in the 66th minute, but it could not ensure a comeback for the hosts, but the Nigerians performance did not go unnoticed as he was awarded the man of the match.

The result leaves Atalanta 9th on the log while Real Madrid are 18th after 6 matches in the UEFA Champions League.

Uche Dozie

Victor Olatunji scored one and assisted another as Sparta Praha cruised to a 3-0 home victory over Salzburg.

The hosts were a goal up after two minutes of action following goalkeeper Blaswich's save of Haraslín's shot into the hands of Kairinen who opened the score.

In the 14 minute, it could have been two, but Olatunji's header went just inches away from goal after Preciado's cross.

However, the Nigerian scored three minutes to the end of the half after running onto a long ball and beating Blaswich with an angled shot.

The hosts continued dominance in the second half and thirteen minutes into the action, the third goal came.

Olatunji presented the ball to Laci, who laid down his opponent and shot into the open goal to make it 3-0. This goal sealed victory for the Czech Republic side.

Olatunji who was substituted in 64 minutes became the third African player and first Nigerian player to score and assist on his UEFA Champions League debut, after Daniel Cousin in 2007 (for Rangers vs Lyon) and Serge Aurier in 2015 (for PSG vs Shakhtar Donetsk).

Uche Dozie 

Nigeria Super Eagles attacker, Ademola Lookman helped his side Atalanta BC to reach the quarter final of the UEFA Europa League after beating Sporting Lisbon on Thursday, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

Lookman's equaliser set the tone for a comeback as Atalanta defeated Sporting Lisbon 2-1 to win 3-2 on aggregate at the Gewiss Stadium.

Pedro Goncalves opened score for the visitors on 33 minutes to give Sporting the lead at the end of the first half.

However, Lookman started the comeback with a fine header a minute after the start of the second 45 courtesy of a header from Miranchuk.

It was the Nigerian's first goal in the UEFA Europa League this season.

Another wonderful assist by Miranchuk to Gianluca Scamacca, who found the far bottom corner on 59 minute.

Atalanta held on to win to qualify for the quarter final.

By Uche Dozie

Super Eagles talisman, Victor Osimhen has been named in the Fantasy Football Team of the week for the first leg of the round of 16 clashes of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

Osimhen returned to the Napoli squad and starting 11 after the AFCON final in their crucial round of 16 tie with Barcelona on Wednesday and the big name lived up to his name scoring the equaliser for his team in the 75th minutes.

Osimhen is the only Napoli player in the team but was joined by four other Italian Serie A players from Inter Milan.

The Italian League leaders, Inter Milan have the highest number of players on the list with goalkeeper Sommer, defenders Bastoni and De Vrij and forward Arnautovic making the list.

Also on the list are; Otavio Wendell and Galeno of FC Porto; Atletico Madrid's Molina; PSV's Veerman; and Barcelona's Lewandowski.

Osimhen will hope to add to his 9 goals tally for Napoli this season when they take on Cagliari on Sunday at the Sardegna Arena.

By Oluwayemi Omolagba

It was a bad day in office for Super Falcons goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie who conceded 4 goals in her sides, Paris FC loss to English giants Chelsea in the UEFA Women's Champions League on Tuesday, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

Nnadozie who has been the heroine for the D1 Arkema side, could not save the French side from the onslaught of the group D leaders who had qualified prior to the game.

It was Paris FC who needed a win to stand a chance of qualification, but the Blue army Ladies were all over them at the Stade Charlety.

Jelena ?ankovi?  delivered a perfect cross which was headed in by Fran Kirby to open score the English champions after 10 minutes.

?ankovi? once again gave a cross from inside the box to find the head of Mia Fishel who put it at the back of the net for Chelsea's second in the 37th minute.

In the second half, Guro Reiten pounced on the Paris FC mistake and put the game to bed in the 74th minute.

5 minutes later Maren Mjelde put the icing on the cake from a corner by Reiten to make it 4-0, condemning Paris FC to a heavy defeat at home.

Meanwhile, Rusul Kafaji's second half goal was more than enough for HACKEN to progress to the next round of the UEFA Women's Champions League.

Uche Dozie 

Nigeria Super Falcons goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie proved the heroine for Paris FC Feminine in their goalless draw against BK Hacken in the Women UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

Nnadozie with a man of the match performance kept a clean and saved  her 5th penalty in the UWCL this season.

She saved Rosa Kafaji's penalty in the 21st of the game and went on to make 5 more saves to help Paris FC remain on course to qualify for the next round ahead of the last matchday in Group D.

She had 2 penalties saved to knock out Arsenal in the qualifiers, she saved a penalty to knock out Wolfsburg in the qualifiers.

She also saved a penalty against Real Madrid in the group stage.

Uche Dozie 

Nigeria's Chuba Akpom delivered an outstanding performance, securing a brace with two goals as Ajax triumphed over AEK Athens with a 3-1 victory in the UEFA Europa League at the Johan Cruyff Arena Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

The 28-year-old opened score with a header from a corner kick from Iceland international Kristian Hlynsson in the fifth minute after goalkeeper Giorgos Athanasiadis misread the flight of the ball.

The Greek side levelled score through Levi Garcia’s thumping header from a left-footed free kick from Swedish midfielder Niclas Eliasson in the 12th minute.

Kenneth Taylor helped Ajax return to the lead 9 minutes later as the first phase of the game ended 2-1 in favour of the Dutch side.

In the second half, Akpom consolidated the win for the host in the 56th minute with a low strike into the goal after Athens’ shot-stopper Athanasiadis fluffed his lines once again.

The result unfortunately could not see the Dutch side progress to the next round of the Europa League and will be part of the unseeded teams for the play off of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Uche Dozie

Nigeria's Samuel Chukwueze scored the deciding goal for Italian side, AC Milan in their 2-1 win over English side, Newcastle in UEFA Champions League match day 6 encounter, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

The Super Eagles attacking midfielder came off the bench to score the winner with a fine finish, in AC Milan’s hard-earned away UCL victory over Newcastle.

Joelinton put the hosts in the lead 33 minutes into the game as the first half ended 1-0 in favour of Newcastle who with the result

However, Pulisic restored parity for Milan in the 59 minutes to give the Italians the opportunity for a comeback.

Chukwueze came in the 83rd minute and in less than a minute gave the desired effect through the fine displays of fellow substitutes Okafor and Jovic.

Okafor drove forward, supported by Jovi?, and played in Chukwueze who curled a superb finish high past Martin Dubravka for AC Milan’s 2-1 win at Newcastle.

Samuel Chukwueze wraps his left foot around the ball, curling it high into the top corner.

His winner ensured Milan finish third in Group F and drop into the Europa League.

Uche Dozie

Nigeria's Victor Osimhen celebrated his award as the best player in Africa in less than 24 hours with a goal for Napoli in the UEFA champions league group-stage decider 2-0 win over Sporting Braga, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

The newly-crowned African player of the year scored the second to seal Napoli's passage into the UCL next round as they finished the group stage on 10 points, six ahead of Braga who drop down to the Europa League.

The Serie A champions took the lead early when Braga defender Serdar Saatç? steered a cross against the crossbar and into his own net just 9 minutes into the game.

The score became 2-0 in the 33rd minute for the host when Osimhen back-heeled a low cross into the net.

The goal by the Nigerian was enough till the end of the encounter as the Parthenopeans finished second in group C behind Real Madrid to make the last 16 berth.

Uche Dozie

It was a night to forget for Nigerian players in Europe as they were eliminated with their clubs in the second and third tier of European club football competitions on Thursday, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

In the UEFA Europa League, competition top scorer, Victor Boniface and Royal Union Saint-Gilloise were knocked out of the competition by Bayern Leverkusen after a 5-2 aggregate loss.

The Belgian side had played a one all draw in Germany seven days ago, but faltered at home in Brussels 1-4.

Bayer Leverkusen scored twice in each half to reach a first European semi-final since 2002 and end Union SG's hopes of glory in the Europa League.

[caption id="attachment_735690" align="alignnone" width="300"] Orban celebrates with teammate, Hugo[/caption]

In the Europa Conference League, Gift Orban and KAA Gent could not stand the firepower of English side, West Ham as they were beaten by four goals to one despite scoring first.

Hugo Cuypers  had put Gent ahead, but Michail Antonio restored parity before Lucas Paquetá scored a penalty, Declan Rice scored a beauty to put the goal beyond the Belgians. Antonio put the icing on the cake with his second to end the tie on aggregate 5-2.

[caption id="attachment_735692" align="alignnone" width="300"] Moffi celebrates goal with teammate[/caption]

After a 2-2 draw in France, Terem Moffi's Nice failed to capitalize on a good start after taking the lead in Basel as they lost 2-1 on Thursday night.

[caption id="attachment_735691" align="alignnone" width="300"] Terem in action against Basel[/caption]

Kasim Nuhu's header in extra time sealed the win for Basel after Gaëtan Laborde's lead for Nice was cancelled by Jean-Kévin Augustin.

By Uche Dozie