Napoli, March 16 (BNA): Napoli beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in their history – and make it three Italian teams into the quarter-finals.
Victor Osimhen continued his impressive scoring record by scoring a goal in each half, and Piotr Zielinski scored a second-half penalty as Napoli went ahead 5-0 on aggregate, the Associated Press reports.
Osimhen raised his tally to 23 goals this season.
“It’s amazing to make history with this win, and I’m happy to score two goals,” said the Nigerian international. “We want to continue like this, it’s nice to progress in this competition.
“I think I played a great game. The whole team played a great game against a very good team. We want to keep going like this.”
This is the first time since 2006 that three Italian teams have qualified for the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club competition.
But Osimhen believes Napoli can stun everyone and go all the way.
When asked if Napoli would win the Champions League, he said, “We are still dreaming and we have the team to do it.”
“We’re on the right track with a great coach. We’ll see what the future holds for us, and I think we have a good chance.”
There are no other restrictions on teams from the same country facing each other, so Napoli could face Inter Milan or AC Milan when the draw takes place on Friday. The other teams in the quarter-finals are Bayern Munich, Benfica, Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid.
Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 in another match on Wednesday to take a 6-2 aggregate lead.
Napoli were brimming with confidence ahead of the game at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona as they took a 2-0 lead from the first leg in Germany and looked set to seal the Serie A title.
There were problems in Napoli during the day as around 600 Frankfurt fans descended into the city, despite not being allowed into the match, but there were no further incidents at the stadium.
Napoli pressed hard for the goal that would seal their place in the quarter-finals. Khavisha Kvaratskhelia, who has been an inspiration this season, had two chances in the first half but Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp kept his team in the match.
The deadlock was broken in first-half injury time when Stanislav Lobotka collected a loose ball and sent it to Matteo Politano, who crossed in from the right for a towering header from Osimhen.
Osimhen – who also scored in the first leg – doubled his tally for the night, eight minutes after the break, slotting in a Giovanni Di Lorenzo cross, after good work from Kvaratskhelia into the crowd.
Napoli were out of sight in the 64th minute when Zielinski was tripped by Djibril Sow and the midfielder dusted himself off to convert the resulting penalty down the middle.