Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen has praised his side’s performance despite dropping points at home in Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid, SportPremi reports.
The Nigerian forward made his first appearance for the Turkish champions in a month, but could not guide them to victory as they were held to a 1-1 result by the Spanish club.
The Lions moved up to 17th on the 36-team standings with 10 points from their first seven matches following their latest draw.
Osimhen was included in the lineup despite doubts over his fitness as he missed Nigeria’s third-placed playoff win over Egypt last weekend with an injury.
However, it was Atletico that struck the first blow when Giuliano Simeone scored inside the first four minutes, but Galatasaray hit back through a bizarre own goal by Marcos Llorente minutes after.
Atletico continued to pile up the pressure in search of a second goal, but it was the hosts who almost snatched a late victory.
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Jan Oblak denied Galatasaray’s Gabriel Sara, before Llorente blocked Eren Elmali’s rebound as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Everything Osimhen said after return to Galatasaray
Victor Osimhen missed several weeks of action after commitments to the Super Eagles at the recently-concluded 2025 African Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco.
Although he could not make an instant impact on his return, the 27-year-old will be eyeing much improved displays in coming matches.
Speaking after the result on Wednesday, he expressed satisfaction with the performance as they came out of the clash with a valuable point.
“Of course, I miss everyone so much, even the fans. We knew we’d play against a strong opponent before the game
I congratulate my teammates, in a 90-minute battle against a tough team like this, we did a good job against a great opponent”, Osimhen stated.
“The game was like 50-50. In some places, we had a chance to finish the game, but I’m happy with our performance.”
Galatasaray now head to England to face 2023 champions Manchester City in their final match next week, hoping for a win to qualify for the knockout rounds.
Osimhen, though believes his side can achieve a favourable result despite the strength of the English side.
“Manchester City is one of the best teams in the world. We’re going to play a game. We’ll focus on the league, then we’ll focus on that game”, he continued.
“It won’t be easy, but I trust my team. I’m looking at it positively, and we can get something out of there. Let’s play a good game as we played against Atletico, that’s the most important.”
Galatasaray are back in action in the Turkish Super League this weekend, when they face Faith Karagumruk on Saturday.
