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Victor Osimhen is set to star for Napoli against AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League and there are a number of milestones he could reach with as little as one goal in the quarterfinal
Napoli’s Victor Osimhen’s name has been the foremost on the lips of pundits leading up to the Partenopei’s UEFA Champions League clash quarterfinal second-leg against AC Milan.
Osimhen missed the first leg through injury but is a shoo-in for the second leg as Napoli try to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg.
With the Nigerian forward in superb form this season, Napoli will be counting on him to add to his four goals this term already.
If Osimhen does deliver the goods for Napoli, he could be in line for a number of special UCL records including the five below
Most goals by a Nigerian in one UCL campaign
Victor Osimhen has already scored four goals this campaign and is now one goal away from the record of five goals in a season by a Nigerian player in a single UCL campaign, set by Yakubu Aiyegbeni in the 2002/03 season and equalled by Obafemi Martins’ in the 2004/05 season with Inter as he helped the Italian team to the quarterfinals before losing to AC Milan.
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With one more goal in the 2022/23 season, Osimhen will equal Martins as the Nigerian with the joint-most goals in one season of the Champions League, and with a brace, he will have the record all to himself.
Most goals by a Nigerian in UEFA Champions League (main competition) history
In addition to having the most goals in a season by a Nigerian player, Martins also holds the record for the most in the history of the UEFA Champions League main stages, with nine goals scored between 2002 and 2006 while playing for Inter.
Osimhen’s six goals, four for Napoli this season, and two for Lille in the 2019/20 season, is only three goals away from Martin’s tally.
If the Napoli man hits the heights that he is capable of, he could equal Martin’s record when he plays against Milan on Tuesday.
First Hat-trick since 2002
For Osimhen to equal Martins’ record of nine goals in UCL history against AC Milan, he will also have to equal a record set by another Super Eagles great with the first hat-trick by a Nigerian player in the competition since 2002.
Currently, former Super Eagles forward Yakubu Aiyegbeni is the only Nigerian player to have scored a hat trick in the UCL after hitting a treble for Israeli club Maccabi Haifa against Olympiacos in the group stage of the 2002/03 season.
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Since then, no other Nigerian has scored a hat-trick with only a handful, including Osimhen, scoring braces in the competition.
Osimhen could equal Aiyegbeni with a first hat-trick of his own in the competition.
Most goals in the knock-out stage
Osimhen is currently tied on three knockout stage goals with Obafemi Martins after scoring three times over two legs against Frankfurt in the 2022/23 round of 16, and both have scored the most goals by a Nigerian in the knockout stages of the UCL.
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With one more goal against AC Milan, Osimhen will move ahead of the former Inter and Newcastle striker to become the Nigerian with the most goals in the latter stages of the competition with four goals.
First Napoli goal in the UCL quarterfinal
Osimhen led Napoli to the UCL quarterfinals for the first time in the club’s history with his goals against Frankfurt in the round of 16, and by virtue of that, he could write his name into the club’s history books against AC Milan.
As Napoli were unable to score in the first leg of the quarterfinal tie against Milan, Osimhen could still become the first Napoli player in the club’s history to score in the quarterfinal of the competition.
With 25 goals already in the season, and four in the UCL already, Osimhen is odds on to open the scoring for Napoli against Milan, etching his name further into Napoli history
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