Galatasaray Coach Reacts After Osimhen Scored His First Champions League Goal This Season
- Galatasaray beat LOSC Lille away in the UEFA Champions League, ending a difficult start to their European campaign
- Victor Osimhen scored against his former club Lille but chose not to celebrate his first Champions League goal of the season
- Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk has already shifted his focus to the Istanbul derby against Fenerbahce in five days
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Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk has urged his players to put their 4-1 victory over LOSC Lille behind them quickly and focus on the Istanbul derby against Fenerbahce, scheduled just five days after the Champions League away fixture in France.
Goals from Yunus Akgun, Aleksey Batrakov, Victor Osimhen, and an own goal gave the Turkish champions their first win in this season's UEFA Champions League group stage.
Source: Getty Images
The result offered some relief after consecutive heavy defeats — a 3-1 loss to Sporting Lisbon on the first matchday and a 4-1 defeat to Barcelona on the second.
As noted by A Spor, for Osimhen, the goal against Lille carried added significance. It was his first Champions League strike of the season, and it came against the French club where he built his reputation before joining Galatasaray.
The Nigerian forward chose not to celebrate the goal out of respect for his former employers.
Buruk sets sights on Fenerbahce derby
Speaking after the final whistle via GS TV, Buruk was clear that there was no time to savour the result.
“We wanted to win the Champions League away game against Lille, and then win the derby. We achieved the first one today. Now our goal is to put this match behind us as quickly as possible and prepare for the derby,” he said.
The coach acknowledged the difficulty of asking players to switch focus immediately after a positive result.
“Of course, we don't want to forget good matches, but we have a derby match in five days. We will try to prepare for that match as soon as possible,”he added.
Once the derby against Fenerbahce is out of the way, Galatasaray return to European competition with a home match against VfB Stuttgart, another game that Buruk will consider a must-win if the Lions are to remain in contention in the group stage.
Osimhen reacts after goal against Lille
Legit.ng previously reported that Victor Osimhen spoke after scoring his first goal in the UEFA Champions League this season against Lille.
The Nigerian international forward applauded his former club and their supporters and also expressed his delight at securing three points for Galatasaray.
Source: Legit.ng
