Meet the 9 Nigerians who could join Samuel Chukwueze in a European semi-final

On Wednesday night, Super Eagles winger Samuel Chukwueze came off the bench to become the hero for his La Liga club Villarreal CF in the Champions League. 

Chukwueze blasted into the Bayern Munich net, with the helpless Manuel Neuer, in goal, in no man’s land to earn the Yellow Submarine a share of the spoils on the night of their second leg Champions League quarter-final clash at the magnificent Allianz Arena. 

That goal, two minutes from extra time after Robert Lewandowski's goal had the Bavarians level on aggregate, proved to be the winner as Villarreal shocked the home fans and the world to knock out one of the tournament’s favourites following a 2-1 aggregate win.

With his historic role in that performance, Chukwueze became the first Nigerian since 1996 to score in the quarter-final stage of the Champions League, sealing a second-ever semi-final place for his club, Villarreal.

But which other Nigerian(s) or Super Eagles player(s) will join the 22-year-old in a European semi-final this season?

Let’s have a quick look at these nine (9) Nigerians who will be looking to achieve similar results with their respective teams in Europe’s second-tier club competitions, the Europa League and UEFA Conference League. 

There is plenty of work to be done for Nigeria's only representatives in the UEFA Europa League. These three and their Scottish club, Rangers football club have to work harder to make it to the last four of the Europa League.

The trio of Joe Aribo, Leon Balogun and Calvin Bassey will be looking to help their club overturn the 1-0 deficit from last week's first leg against the Portuguese side, Braga.

Bassey and Balogun, subbed off after just an hour, started in that defeat in Portugal, while Aribo, who scored a fantastic goal at the weekend, was a second-half substitute.

In the absence of the reliable Wilfred Ndidi, who is out for the rest of the season, Leicester City will turn attention to their other Super Eagles stars, Kelechi Iheanacho and Ademola Lookman as they look to overcome a stubborn PSV Eindhoven, who are expected to parade another Nigerian, Noni Madueke.

The first leg ended 0-0 at the King Power, so, this particular encounter remains evenly poised and open to who wants it more heading into the second leg in the Netherlands.

Another all-Nigerian affair will see Slavia Prague's duo of Peter Olayinka and Yira Sor welcome their compatriot, Cyriel Dessers and his Dutch club to the Sinobo Stadium in Praha, Czech Republic.

If the first leg between these two teams is anything to take into account, then, we expect a super explosive second leg when they take to the Sinobo pitch later tonight.

It's a winner takes all, this tie, after a six-goal thriller last week, which saw all the Nigerians in action make their presence felt on the pitch for the two clubs.

Olayinka and Yira Sor netted a goal apiece for Slavia Prague, for the third consecutive match together, while Dessers came off the bench to assist Feyenoord's second goal of the day.

Both clubs will surely be looking up to the in-form trio to continue that rich vein of form as they look to secure a ticket to the last four.

Whatever happens in this particular game in Praha, one thing is certain - Nigeria is guaranteed to have another player in a European Cup semi-final.