UCL: Osimhen named in squad for Juventus second leg after costly absence exposed Galatasaray

Galatasaray learnt their lesson the hard way last weekend. Without Victor Osimhen, they lost to a Konyaspor side that had not won in twelve games. 

With him, in midweek, they put five past Juventus in the Champions League. The experiment is over. The king is back.

Osimhen has been named in Galatasaray's 23-man squad for Wednesday night's UEFA Champions League second leg against Juventus in Turin. 

Manager Okan Buruk has confirmed he will start. And the Nigerian himself, speaking to the press ahead of the trip to Italy, was characteristically direct.

"My knee is fine. I am back with the squad and looking forward to facing Juve.”

The first leg at the Rams Park on February 17th was one of the Champions League's most dramatic nights this season. 

Galatasaray trailed 2-1 at the interval, the occasion threatening to swallow them whole. What followed was a second-half masterclass that sent a strong message across European football.

Five goals. Juventus were reduced to ten men. A historic night, the first time Galatasaray had ever scored five goals in a Champions League match. Osimhen did not score. He did not need to.

His first assist arrived in the 74th minute, a moment of pure physical dominance that summed up everything about what he brings to this side. 

He bullied Lloyd Kelly off the ball inside the penalty area, showed the composure to pick out Noa Lang, and watched the Dutchman finish into an empty net to make it 4-2. 

Twelve minutes later, he did it again, dispossessing the same unfortunate Kelly before laying the ball perfectly into the path of Sacha Boey, who blasted home the fifth.

Two assists. Sixteen shots on target across the campaign. A pressing intensity so relentless that Juventus' defence, one of Serie A's most organised, looked panicked and disoriented every time the ball went near him.

Osimhen was everywhere. And yet, somehow, he was still not satisfied.

In the moments after the final whistle, with the Rams Park celebrating a famous European night, Osimhen was caught on camera furiously berating his teammates on the pitch. A 5-2 victory and he was still demanding more.

The image said everything about the mentality driving Galatasaray's Champions League ambitions. Some attributed his frustration to not getting on the scoresheet himself. 

Those who know him better pointed to something more significant, even with a three-goal lead, even in the dying minutes of a historic win, Osimhen was demanding more attacking from his teammates.

The decision to rest him for last weekend's league fixture against Konyaspor was sensible on paper following an injury scare. 

Protecting your most important player ahead of a Champions League second leg is basic squad management.

What it produced was a 2-0 defeat to a side that had not won in twelve matches, a blown five-point lead in the title race, and a very public reminder of how completely this Galatasaray side revolves around one man.

Without Osimhen's movement, Mauro Icardi was isolated and suffocated, finishing without a single shot on target for the first time in months. 

Without his pressing, Galatasaray became predictable. Without his presence, the twin-threat system that makes them so dangerous simply ceased to exist.

The lesson has been learned. Buruk will not be separating his striker from the big occasions again any time soon.

Galatasaray travel to the Juventus Stadium holding a 5-2 advantage, a lead that, on paper, makes this second leg a formality. Football has never cared much for paper.

Juventus, led by Osimhen’s former boss Luciano Spalletti, at home, wounded and desperate, will come at Galatasaray with everything they have. 

The Turkish side will need organisation, resilience, and the kind of relentless pressing that only one man in their squad provides at this level.

Osimhen is fit. Osimhen is starting. Osimhen is ready. Turin will not know what hit it.