Istanbul Başakşehir of Turkey midfielder, Azubuike Okechukwu has declared that he and his colleagues will not keep their tails in their legs whey they line out against Odion Jude Ighalo’s Manchester United in this season’s UEFA Champions League, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although many pundits concluded after the draw on Friday that Okechukwu’s side did not get an easy draw for the group stage of the European elite clubs’ competition, with last season’s losing finalists, Paris Saint-Germain of France and RB Leipzig of Germany also with them in Group H, the former Olympic Eagles’ captain insists there is no cause for alarm.
While Okechukwu admits he has been battling with some fitness issues in recent days, he is optimistic that he would be available for selection when his team battle Ighalo, while refusing to admit that his Istanbul-based Turkish Super Lig club, who have played only six matches in the UCL qualifiers since their formation, are the underdogs and hopes they can cause many upsets.
He added that they now have former Man United right-back, Rafael Da Silva, who spent seven years at Old Trafford, in their ranks and he has already told his teammates that beating The Red Devils is possible; which has further boosted the confidence of Okechukwu, who has played 10 games n European competitions – eight in the Europa League and two in the UCL qualifiers.
As Okechukwu braces to dump Ighalo’s United, PSG and Leipzig this season, new Super Eagles’ invitee, Peter Onyeka will hope to help FC Midtjylland of Denmark overcome 2019 champions, Liverpool of England, Ajax Amsterdam of Holland and Atalanta of Italy; while Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori will join Chelsea of England against Krasnodar of Russia, Stade Rennes of France and last season’s Europa League winners, Sevilla of Spain.
Manchester City are in Group D with Zaidu Sanusi’s FC Porto of Portugal, Olympiakos of Grece and Olympique Marseille of France, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are set to face each other after Juventus of Italy and Barcelona of Spain were drawn in Group G, with current title holders, Bayern Munich of Germany will face Atletico Madrid of Spain in Group A, as well as Real Madrid of Spain and Inter Milan of Italy paired in Group B.
The full draw for this year’s UCL group stage, which begins on Tuesday, October 20 and the final is billed for Saturday, May 29, 2021 at Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, has – Group A: Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Salzburg, Lokomotiv Moscow; as well as Group B: Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Borussia Monchengladbach.
Also from Friday’s draw emerged Group C: Porto, Manchester City, Olympiakos, Marseille; Group D: Liverpool, Ajax, Atalanta, Midtjylland; Group E: Sevilla, Chelsea, FK Krasnodar, Rennes; Group F: Zenit St Petersburg, Borussia Dortmund, Lazio, Bruges; Group G: Juventus, Barcelona, Dynamo Kyiv, Ferencvaros; Group H: Paris St-Germain, Manchester United, RB Leipzig, Istanbul Basaksehir.
That provided a major talking point for Okechukwu, who joined Basaksehir on a permanent deal in the summer transfer window, after enjoying last season on loan from Pyramids’ FC of Egypt, put aside the fact that he has not featured in any match for the club so far this season, as he is confident he will soon make a full recovery from a recent injury that knocked him own.
Okechukwu told allnigeriasoccer.com: “I’ve not been in action because I’ve been injured, I couldn’t finish last season due to injury and I’m working still with the physios to get back.
“Personally I have not contacted Ighalo, but I’ll before meeting with his team. Ighalo is a goal scorer, he keeps the ball very well up front also. I think these qualities have impressed me the most in his game.
“Yes, we are the underdogs and amongst the players we hope to spring surprises by fighting together and make it to the last sixteen. Rafael Da Silva is here and he’s an added experience to our group, he has told us that facing his first club in Europe and wining is possible.”
