AFCON 2025
Barcelona forward Karim Adeyemi has praised Victor Osimhen’s quality while crediting his team’s defence for restricting the Super Eagles striker during their 4-1 UEFA Champions League victory over Galatasaray.
The two sides met at Rams Park in Istanbul on Tuesday, with Barcelona recovering from an early setback to secure their second consecutive win in the competition.
Galatasaray took the lead through Aleksey Bakaratov before Barcelona responded through Joao Cancelo shortly before half-time. Fermin Lopez, Anthony Gordon and Adeyemi then scored to complete the comeback for the Spanish side.
Osimhen endured a difficult outing as Barcelona limited his involvement and prevented him from making a significant impact in the final third.
Speaking exclusively to Soccernet.ng after the match, Adeyemi acknowledged the Nigerian forward’s quality and expressed his happiness at seeing Nigerian players perform on the European stage.
“It’s always nice to see Nigerian players on the big stage. I always feel happy for them, but I think our defence did a great job yesterday, and it was very hard for him to make any serious impact,” Adeyemi said.
The German forward also made an immediate impression after coming off the bench, scoring six minutes after his introduction to contribute to Barcelona’s emphatic victory.
Barcelona’s win extended their impressive start to the season, with the club having won their opening two Champions League fixtures and scored nine goals in the process.
Adeyemi attributed the team’s performances to their winning mentality, insisting that Barcelona are determined to compete for every available trophy.
“You see how we play, with a winning mentality, and our performance shows we want to win everything. You see this in every match. No retreat. No surrender,” he added.
Meanwhile, Galatasaray remain without a victory in the Champions League after losing their opening two matches, having also suffered a 3-1 defeat to Sporting CP.
Barcelona will next face reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain on October 20 as they seek to maintain their strong start to the competition.
