Nigerian red-hot goal poacher Victor Osimhen is out of Napoli’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg against AC Milan after failing to overcome a groin injury in time to play in the San Siro on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old, who leads the Serie A goal scoring charts with 21 goals this season, was omitted from Luciano Spalletti’s squad for the trip to Milan and is now battling to prove his fitness for the second leg in Naples on April 18.
But coach Spalletti said his team are capable of taking control of the tie without the star striker and urged them to treat the occasion as being “like Christmas Eve.”
“I decided not to play Osimhen because I don’t want him injured for too long,” Spalletti said Tuesday. “We have another game against Milan next week and I want him fit for that.
“But we have won very important games without Osimhen. We are here because we have won without him in this competition and I am expecting the same, that all my players rely on their team-mates’ abilities.
“We can’t go on the pitch and be afraid. We need to take this chance and enjoy the game.
“This is like Christmas Eve. The game, the day before the match, the dinner before the match, it is all there to be enjoyed.”
The absence of Osimhen, who has scored four goals in five Champions League games this season, is a major blow for Napoli, who had gone into the tie as favourites having built a 16-point lead at the top of Serie A.