Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk opted to omit Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen from Saturday’s matchday squad as the Super Lig champions battled to a hard-fought victory over Genclerbirligi at the Eryaman Stadyumu, Footynaija.com reports.
Osimhen, who underwent surgery after fracturing his arm in a Champions League match against Liverpool, recently returned to training and was part of the team’s preparations ahead of their trip to Ankara.
However, the 27-year-old striker was a notable absentee on the team sheet as the Lions duly ended their two-game winless run in the Super Lig with a 2-1 win over Genclerbirligi courtesy of goals from Mauro Icardi and Yunus Akgun.
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Explaining Osimhen’s omission, Buruk disclosed via gzt that the Super Eagles star struggled with fatigue after partaking in team training during the week, hence, the decision not to play him in yesterday’s match.
“Osimhen participated in certain parts of the training sessions. He experienced fatigue after these sessions. We didn’t think he was suitable for the squad this week. We can see how many minutes he can play in the next cup match. Of course, he will be able to play in the Fenerbahçe match.”
Osimhen’s imminent return ahead of the crunch game against Fenerbahce will come as a massive boost for Galatasaray, who’ve evidently struggled to produce consistent results in the absence of the talismanic Nigerian striker.
With four points separating the two Istanbul rivals at the summit of the Super Lig standings, a win for Galatasaray will take them one step closer to successfully defending their crown for the fourth consecutive time.
Osimhen has registered 19 goals in 29 appearances across all competitions despite seeing his campaign disrupted by injury. The masked hitman will be backing himself to bag his twentieth of the season in next weekend’s crunch encounter.
