The draw for the 2023/2024 UEFA Champions League season have been concluded and a couple of Nigerian players will be competing in this season’s competition. Napoli’s striker, Victor Osimhen, AC Milan’s new recruit, Samuel Chukwueze, FC Porto’s Zaidu Sanusi among others will look to help their respective teams progress beyond the group stage.
In this post, we will take at the groups where the Nigerian players will be in playing in and their chances of progressing to the round of 16.
Seven Nigerian players to watch out for in this season’s UEFA Champions League
1) Victor Osimhen: Arguably the most in form African player at the moment. Osimhen set Europe alight last season as he won the Serie A golden boot and guided Napoli to a third league title. If he probably wasn’t injured during the quarter final last season the Naples based team could have soared higher in the competition.
This season his team is in Group C alongside Real Madrid, FC Braga and Union Berlin. It looks a favourable group for him as Real Madrid are the only real heavyweights. A place in the round of 16 seems very likely at this point.
2) Samuel Chukwueze : Chukwueze made the move from La Liga club Villarreal to AC Milan over the summer though he is no newbie when it comes to the Champions League. In the 2021/22 Champions League season his goal gave Villarreal a 2-1 aggregate victory over Bayern Munich as they reached the semi-final of the tournament.
AC Milan whom he just joined reached last season’s semi-final so there are huge expectations. However they have been placed in a tricky Group F with Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and surprise package Newcastle United. The Group is rather unpredictable it seems.
3) Sadiq Umar: Umar joined Spanish club Real Sociedad in 2022 and is set to make his debut in the Champions League. He was rather prolific in the Segunda Division for Almeria constantly scoring a handful number of goals and he looks set to try out his goal scoring abilities against the likes of Benfica, Inter Milan and Salzburg in Group D of the 2022/23 Champions League.
Inter and Benfica are easily the favourites in the group but Umar might fancy his chances at scoring against some of the opposition and Real Sociedad will fight tooth and nail to qualify.
4) Peter Olayinka : Olayinka has carved a niche for himself since his performance against Barcelona in the 2019/20 Champions League season.
He joined Red Star Belgrade in January 2023 and his team has been placed in a tough Group G together with Champions Manchester City, Leipzig and Young boys. It might prove an enormous task to navigate through the group stage.
5) Zaidu Sanusi: Sanusi joined FC Porto in 2020 and he scored his first Champions League goal that year against Marseille in a 2-0 win. His team has been placed in Group H with Barcelona, Shaktar Donetsk and minnows Antwerp.
This looks like a negotiable group for Porto who won the Champions League in 1987 and 2004. Barcelona are the only real titans in the group and even the Catalans haven’t gotten to the round of 16 since 2021 when Lionel Messi was the skipper. Porto should qualify for the Round of 16 without stress.
6) Chidera Ejuke and Al Hassan Yussuf: Both footballers play for Belgian Pro League side Antwerp and they face an insurmountable task to qualify for the Round of 16 after being placed on Group H with FC Porto, Barcelona and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Royal Antwerp will be playing in the competition for the first time and the Nigerian duo will look to make it a memorable one even though they find themselves in a quite difficult group.
No Nigerian player has won the UEFA Champions League in 11 years. Mikel Obi was the last Nigerian player to the competition. The former Super Eagles captain the prestigious competition with Chelsea in a dramatic final against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
