Napoli's Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen kicks the ball during the Italian Serie A football match between Napoli and Hellas Verona at the Maradona stadium in Naples, on April 15, 2023. AFPPIX: Victor Osimhen and Mike Maignan will face off for a place in the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday when AC Milan travel south to Naples for the decisive second leg of the all-Italian quarter-final.
The 24-year-old only played the final 17 minutes of that frustrating stalemate but the match came alive once he was on the pitch. “Osimhen has such a physical presence and speed you can chuck the ball at him and he’ll hold onto it, use his head or unleash a change of pace. He has so many different options when he has the ball,“ Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti said on Saturday.
And knowing he is ready to pull off at times astonishing saves when gaps appear at the back has allowed Milan to slowly return to the more swashbuckling style with which they won their first Serie A title last season.His superb stop in the dying seconds on Wednesday denied Giovanni Di Lorenzo from giving Napoli, at that point down to 10 men following the harsh sending off of Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, what would have been a deserved draw.
Asked while still at Lille whether it was easy to score penalties against Maignan, Osimhen said: “No! Nearly everyone misses against him. He’s too good!”