Turkish football pundit Serdar Ali Çelikler has criticised Victor Osimhen following Galatasaray’s reported 4-1 defeat to Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.
Çelikler said the Nigerian striker struggled to provide a goal threat or deliver the hold-up play expected of a centre-forward during the encounter at Rams Park.
Barcelona secured the victory through goals attributed in the supplied report to João Cancelo, Fermín López, Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi.
Speaking after the match, Çelikler compared Osimhen’s performance with that of AC Milan forward Rafael Leão, praising the latter’s ability to hold up the ball and bring teammates into play.
“Osimhen couldn’t do either goalscoring or center-forward play today. That is why I liked Leao,” Çelikler said, as quoted by NEO Spor.
“He came and took balls with his back to the goal. Osimhen couldn’t do these today, and Galatasaray needed this in this match.”
Osimhen will now turn his attention to Galatasaray’s next Turkish Süper Lig fixture against Gençlerbirliği on Saturday, where he will look to help his side return to winning ways.
