Napoli's injured Osimhen out of AC Milan Champions League quarter-final

Sports

Reuters
12 April, 2023, 03:00 pm
Last modified: 12 April, 2023, 03:04 pm
Nigeria's Osimhen, who is Serie A's top scorer this season with 21 goals, was sidelined for this month's league games against Milan and Lecce due to a thigh strain.

Napoli's injured forward Victor Osimhen will miss the Champions League quarter-final, first leg at AC Milan on Wednesday after being left out of Luciano Spalletti's matchday squad.

Nigeria's Osimhen, who is Serie A's top scorer this season with 21 goals, was sidelined for this month's league games against Milan and Lecce due to a thigh strain.

Napoli said on their website that Osimhen "worked separately" from the team in Tuesday's training session.

"We've won important games even without Osimhen. I expect those who go out onto the pitch to have the trust of their team mates and themselves," Spalletti told a news conference on Tuesday.

"The strength of a team is never a raw addition of team members but of the qualities, of how they manage to coexist with each other, the team behaviour. And our team has shown that it can play beyond the starting lineup," he added.

Napoli's Argentina striker Giovanni Simeone is also out with a thigh problem and Giacomo Raspadori, who is expected to lead the line, is still waiting for a fitness test.

"He has only done one training session today, not very deep. He will be assessed tomorrow morning for further tests and then we will choose who will play in that position," said Spalletti.

Napoli beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 on aggregate to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time.

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