Victor Osimhen’s influence was conspicuously absent for Napoli during their agonizing Champions League defeat to Barcelona, drawing criticism from Italian newspapers.

Despite holding Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Round of 16 tie, Napoli faltered in Catalonia, succumbing to a 3-1 loss with goals from Fermin Lopez, Joao Cancelo, and Roberto Lewandowski nullifying Amir Rrahmani’s strike.

This outcome sealed Napoli’s Champions League exit and dashed their hopes of participating in the Club World Cup, with Juventus securing their place. With their continental aspirations now dashed, Napoli’s focus shifts to securing a top-four finish for the remainder of the season.

Osimhen, in particular, failed to make an impact against Barcelona, appearing disconnected from his Napoli teammates. He mustered just one shot throughout the 90 minutes and succeeded in only one of his ten attempted duels.

La Gazzetta dello Sport criticized Osimhen for his frequent offside positioning, lamenting missed opportunities that could have altered the course of the game: “Ready-go and they waste a colossal opportunity that could’ve changed history, a bad sign. In the first 20 minutes he went offside four times.”

Corriere dello Sport voiced dissatisfaction with Osimhen’s inability to influence the game, emphasizing his struggles against Barcelona’s defence: “He played between the expert Araujo and the 17-year-old Cubarsi, against a high line, always on the edge of an offside which became a systematic trap.”

“But he fought and the first signs were his, even when shooting. And in the key phase, in one of the wild dances in the penalty area, he even won a penalty due to a foul by Cubarsi: denied, what a regret.”

Tuttosport offered a succinct assessment of Osimhen’s performance, highlighting his frequent offside infringements and inability to make meaningful contributions: “Constantly offside, he practically never managed to connect in the match.”

Corriere della Sera echoed these sentiments, emphasizing Osimhen’s lack of impact and anonymous performance: “He ended up offside three times in the first 21 minutes, four in the entire first half. An anonymous match.”

Victor Osimhen

This season he played in total 6 times for 460 minutes for Champions League.

Victor Osimhen  scored 2 goals for Napoli. He procured one assist. He received 1 yellow card and no red cards.

His team is currently 7th in Champions League. In the last match Napoli lost 3-1 against FC Barcelona.

Napoli performance and stats

Napoli is currently 2nd in the Champions League with 10 points.

In the last 8 games, it has won 3 times, drawn twice, and lost 3 times. In its last match, Napoli lost 3-1 against FC Barcelona.​​

It has a positive goal difference after scoring 10 goals and conceding 9.​