Napoli through to Champions League quarter-finals for the first time

• Napoli beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 (5-0 aggregate) on Wednesday night to enter quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
• This is the first time in history that Napoli have gone past the round of 16 in the Champions League

Victor Osimhen scored twice on Wednesday night as Napoli beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 (5-0 aggregate) to enter quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

This is the first time in history that Napoli have gone past the round of 16 in the Champions League. Napoli’s victory marks the biggest joint aggregate victory by an Italian club in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, along with Milan 5-0 Intern in 2004-05 and Juventus 5-0 Celtic in 2012-13.

Napoli is the third Italian team to make it to the last eight this season, following in the steps of AC Milan and Inter Milan.

There are no further restrictions on teams from the same country facing each other, and so Napoli could either play AC Milan or Napoli when the draw is made on Friday. The other teams in the final eight are Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Benfica and Chelsea.

Speaking after Napoli’s comfortable win over Eintracht Frankfurt at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, Victor Osimhen said that they are looking ahead as they follow their coach.

Victor Osimhen. Photo/ Sky Sports.

“We want to enjoy the moment and look ahead. It’s a great win, we re-wrote the history of this club. We keep dreaming, we don’t have limits. We follow our coach and look ahead.” BBC Sports quotes the Nigerian attacker.

How The Game Unfolded

The build-up to the match between Napoli and Eintracht Frankfurt had been overshadowed as the away fans clashed with police after arriving in Naples despite being banned from watching the game.

Eintracht Frankfurt needed to claw back a two-goal deficit from the first leg and started the match with purpose and positivity. Oliver Glasner’s side were pressing on the front as they relied on the creativity of Mario Gotze and Daichi Kamada.

The visitors had the first effort of the night as Rafael Borre headed off target in the tenth minute. However, Napoli were always a favourite to advance after the 2-0 win in Germany. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was the main threat throughout the first half as he created chances and nearly found the back of the net.

The Partenopei took the lead on the stroke of half-time, thanks to Victor Osimhen’s fine header. The goal dispelled any lingering nerves at the Stadio Diego Armando Stadium.

Osimhen doubled Napoli’s lead eight minutes after the start of the second half with a close-range finish from Giovanni di Lorenzo’s beautiful pass. Lorenzo had done a good work down the right before finding the lethal Victor Osimhen who has been on form this season.

Piotr Zielenski had performed well in the match and he finally got something to prove for it after converting a penalty in the 64th minute.

Victor Osimhen, the first player in Napoli’s history to score in both matches of a European knockout round, was the man of the match.

Napoli’s players celebrate after winning the Champions League round of 16 second leg between SSC Napoli and Eintracht Frankfurt. Photo/ Sky Sports.