Last year, Mikel Obi joined the elite group of
Nigerians to win the coveted UEFA Champions
League as Chelsea, under manager Roberto Di
Matteo, defeated Bayern Munich 4-3 in
Germany, becoming only the fourth English
team to win the title.
Before Mikel’s success, Nwankwo Kanu and
Finidi George were the only Nigerians to win
the competition with Ajax in 1995.
This season, Mikel tops a list of six Nigerians
in the race for the title as they all look to
enrich their profiles in world football.
Mikel and his club, Chelsea, started their
campaign on a poor note on Wednesday,
unexpectedly losing 2-1 to visiting Basel at
Stamford Bridge. Mikel did not start the game
but was introduced in the 76th minute,
replacing Marco van Ginkel as manager, Jose
Mourinho, sought to change the game without
success.
Chelsea’s next game is against Steaua
Bucuresti on October 1.
Celtic are not favourites to win this year’s
Champions League and it was no surprise
when they lost 2-0 to AC Milan in Italy on
Wednesday. Efe Ambrose, however, had an
impressive outing with the Scottish team as he
displayed his aerial prowess to deny Milan
from set pieces. He partnered well with Van
Dijk to keep Matri and Balotelli at bay. The
77th minute yellow card he got in the game
did little to slow him down.
Last season, Ambrose won the Scottish league
and the Scottish Cup, leaving him the
Champions League as the next big thing to win
in Europe.
His next challenge is to devise means of
stopping Lionel Messi when Celtic host
Barcelona on October 1.
Fanendo Adi was only unlucky not to bag his
first goal in the competition on Tuesday as he
helped Danish Supa Liga champions,
København, to a 1-1 draw against Juventus.
The 22-year-old striker had a few chances
against the Italian giants but failed to take his
chances. He was substituted for Rúrik Gíslason
in the 70th minute.
Adi joined the Danish champions in the
summer after two seasons in Slovenia playing
for Trenčín. He will travel with the team to
face Real Madrid in Spain on October 2.
Michael Olaitan was not listed for Olympiakos
Piraeus of Greece when they hosted and lost
4-1 to Paris Saint-Germain at the Georgios
Karaiskáki Stadium. The Flying Eagles
midfielder has only made one league
appearance for the Greek champions since
joining them in the summer from rivals Veria.
Ahmed Musa could not help CSKA survive the
German onslaught on Tuesday as Bayern
Munich continued from where they stopped
last season, dominating their opponents in the
Champions League.
Musa’s movement, until he was substituted in
the 74th minute, was continually checked by
the European champions as David Alaba,
Mario Mandžukić and Arjen Roben struck
thrice to seal victory at home.
The former Kano Pillars player will be back
when they host Viktoria Plzeň on October 2.
Former Hoffenheim striker, Chinedu Ogbuke,
was not listed in the Schalke 04 match against
Steaua Bucureşti as the German team romped
to a 3-0 victory at home. Ogbuke has not
made any appearance for the Bundesliga side
this season; he made only four appearances
for the team last season.
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