Osimhen Left Out of Napoli Squad against AC Milan Tonight
Femi Solaja with agency report
Top Nigerian International and Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen, will be sorely missed tonight in the all-Italian UEFA Champions League quarter final derby clash against AC Milan at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.
Napoli manager, Luciano Spalletti, said the gangling Nigerian is yet to be fully fit and will not risk the talented forward in what could be the most important match of the club so far this season.
Osimhen who is Serie A’s top scorer this season with 21 goals, has missed this month’s league games against Milan and Lecce due to a thigh strain he sustained on international duty with Nigeria last month.
In a post on their website, Napoli said Osimhen “worked separately” from the team during Tuesday’s training session.
Giacomo Raspadori is expected to lead the line against Milan, with Argentine striker Giovanni Simeone also side-lined due to a thigh issue.
Napoli beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 on aggregate in the last 16 last month to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time.
Meanwhile, Milan are expecting a different approach from Napoli in tonight’s match despite thrashing the Naples-based team 4-0 away in a Serie A game earlier this month, manager Stefano Pioli insisted yesterday.
Fourth-placed Milan earned a superb Serie A victory over the leaders Napoli on April 2 but were well below par on Friday when they were held to a 0-0 stalemate by visitors Empoli.
“I believe we will regain balance, but Wednesday is another challenge, 180 minutes long,” Pioli told a news conference yesterday ahead of the game at San Siro.
“(Napoli are) a team of the highest calibre, the team that have scored the most goals in the Champions League, and won the most games after Bayern,” Pioli said.
“We must play a focused game in every aspect. The opponents have great quality and they know how to take advantage of every mistake and be dangerous. We cannot afford to drop our concentration levels because the stakes are very high.”
