Heart break for Obasi

Obasi

Nigerian attacker, Chinedu Obasi, will play no further part in this season’s Uefa Champions League after his German club, Schalke 04 crashed out of the competition on Tuesday.

The former TSG Hoffeinheim man was drafted in as an 85th minute substitute by the Schalke manager, Jens Keller.

The attacking midfielder however failed to inspire his side to victory after coming in for striker, Teemu Pukki late on.

Obasi failed to get a single shot on goal as Galatasaray scored late on through Umut Bulut to drill a dagger into Schalke hearts.

Keller was distraught at the loss and blamed the team for the first half display.

“I have no explanation for the first half performance. We played like we were doing a couple of weeks ago, without the necessary aggression, and everyone put in maybe 10% less than what was needed. We were not proactive and focused enough – we allowed them too much space.

“In the second half we dealt with them much better. They played with a diamond in midfield and that had surprised us. We then coped with the challenge much better. You must not forget that some of our players were sidelined today (Tuesday). The second half was really strong and there is no reason to be depressed now,” he stated.