Barcelona Femeni of Spain attacker, Asisat Oshoala is bracing for her team’s upcoming Spanish derby against Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, ahead of which the squad have commenced build-up matches to keep them in match-mood heading into the clash.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Oshoala netted twice in her team’s latest friendly in preparation for the UCL Women’s quarter-final showdown with Atletico, as Barca gear up for the encounter, following their return to training after a three-week break.
The Catalans’ female squad are planning a repeat of their excellent run in the elite continental clubs’ competition, in which they reached the final last season, before losing to Olympique Lyon of France, with Oshoala scoring their only goal in that historic game.
Back then, Oshoala made history as the first African to score in the UCL Women’s final when she netted in Barcelona’s 4-1 loss and she now hopes to go one step further by garnering European success, in addition to her club’s recent emergence as Spanish champions.
That is the mentality they all hold heading into their first-ever all-Spanish battle against Atletico in Bilbao, ahead of which ‘Super Zee’ hit target twice in Sunday’s friendly against Montpellier of France, with both goals coming in the second half of their 3-0 victory.
Hitting a brace in Sunday’s international club-friendly means the Super Falcons’ captain has continued from where she left off in The Calatans’ run to the Spanish Women’s League title, during which she 20 goals in 19 games before the season was hastily cancelled on account of the coronavirus pandemic.
Oshoala showed the signs of what is to come in the new season when she also scored a brace during a training match on Thursday, then went on as a substitute to fire the Spanish champions to victory over Montpellier, as both sides met for the second time in 12 months.
The four-time African Women Footballer of The Year had also scored in that first encounter, as Barca got a 1-0 win over Montpellier through her solitary effort in a build-up game to the round of 32 fixture with Juventus of Italy.
It was a better story this time out for Oshoala, as she entered the thick of action at the start of the second half and broke the deadlock in the 64th minute, after which the 25-year-old dark-skinned lass then went on to double the lead four minutes from time and Jenni Hermoso added the third goal for the Spanish hosts inside injury time.
Barcelona are due to travel to France to face Montpellier in the second leg of their back-to-back double-header friendlies this Sunday, as they put finishing touches to their preparations for the battle with Atletico, and they will again rely heavily on Oshoala, who has now scored three goals in two appearances against the French side as well as four in two warm-up outings.
