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When Galatasaray last reached the Champions League quarter-finals in 2013, Victor Osimhen was a boy on the streets of Lagos selling bottled water in traffic, Footynaija reports.
On Tuesday night, the same man who grew up in those conditions led the Turkish champions to a 1-0 victory over Liverpool at RAMS Park, their second defeat of the same English side in four months.
It was a result that Turkish football legend Hasan Şaş described as one of the standout moments of the entire football calendar.
“The fact that Galatasaray managed to beat a European giant like Liverpool, a team with a €1 billion squad, twice in four months is, in my opinion, one of the events that should be talked about this year,” he said as per Habersarikirmizi.
Osimhen, who had earlier scored the only goal in a 1-0 group-stage win over Liverpool back in September, produced another commanding display.
Şaş was struck by one moment in particular.
“In the 90+1st minute, Osimhen was near the touchline, with two players behind him, one of them Konaté, almost twice Osimhen’s size. This guy was dragging him along. We can’t say enough good things about him. He plays with all his heart, from his soul.”
Yet the former Galatasaray forward is under no illusions about what awaits at Anfield. His message to the squad was direct and unambiguous.
“Galatasaray shouldn’t be playing a game focused on protecting a 1-0 lead. You have to go there and play football. If we can’t respond to their attacks and tackles, it will be difficult, like the Juventus match.”
A quarter-final place, and a piece of history, is within reach. But Şaş insists it will only arrive on Victor Osimhen and Galatasaray’s terms.
