Osimhen made to rue missed chance as Real Madrid overcome Napoli in five goal thriller

Real Madrid had the unenviable task of keeping Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen quiet in the UEFA Champions League encounter, and they just about managed to do so to claim a thrilling victory. 

Los Blancos left Naples with all three points after an own-goal by Alex Meret secured the win for the LaLiga giants in a 3-2 result. 

After Leo Ostigard opened the scoring for Napoli, goals from Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham put Real Madrid in front before Piotr Zielinski equalised for the home side, only to see Fede Valverde’s shot turn into an own goal by goalkeeper Meret. 

Napoli and Real Madrid were keen to continue their winning starts to the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League campaign and played a European classic worthy of the competition’s history. 

The home side took the lead early on, with centre-back Ostigard benefiting from an error from Kepa Arrizebalaga in goal for Real Madrid to head Napoli into a 1-0 lead after 19 minutes. 

Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr marked his return to the Champions League with a brilliant finish from Jude Bellingham’s pass to pull Los Blancos level less than 10 minutes after the opener before Bellingham turned from provider to scorer to make it 2-1 to the visitors. 

Osimhen had the chance to level the game for Napoli before half-time but was unable to beat Kepa, who pulled off a sensational save to make up for the error that led to the first goal. 

The Nigerian striker made amends for his miss, winning a penalty for Napoli after his attempted cross came off Nacho Fernandez’ hand in the box. 

After the recent penalty and TikTok fiasco, the resultant spot kick was not taken by Osimhen but by Poland international midfielder Zielinski, who made no mistake from the spot. 

Napoli bravely tried to seal the comeback to claim all three points, but were set back by a stunning strike from Uruguyan midfielder Valverde, which cannoned off the crossbar and hit the Napoli goalkeeper before trickling into the back of the net to give the visitors a 3-2 lead. 

The Partenopei assaulted the Real Madrid area with a barrage of crosses and shots late on, and came close to an equaliser when one of the crosses, barely missed an outstretched Osimhen. 

Napoli had to settle for a defeat despite their brave effort against the perennial competition favourites and will be confident that on another day they could have matched the Spanish giants.