Oshoala fires Champions League warning to Atletico Madrid with Barcelona brace

Asisat Oshoala scored a second-half brace as Barcelona thrashed Montpellier 3-0 in Sunday’s international club-friendly.

The Nigeria international has continued from where she left off in the Calatans’ regular-season run to their title triumph, scoring 20 goals in 19 league games before the league’s cancellation.

With three weeks to go until their Uefa Women’s Champions League quarter-final showdown with rivals Atletico Madrid, Barca are gearing up for the encounter following their return from a three-week break. 

For her part, Oshoala has hit the ground running, scoring twice in a training match on Thursday before coming on as a substitute to fire the Spanish champions to a win over the French side.

The two sides were meeting for the second in the last 12 months, with Barcelona claiming a 1-0 win over Montpellier through Oshoala’s solitary effort in a build-up to their Round of 32 ties with Juventus.

The French ladies were starting their pre-season campaign ahead of their new season and held Barcelona 0-0 at half time.

However, Oshoala, who came on at the start of the second half, broke the deadlock to put the hosts in front in the 64th minute.

She went on to double the lead four minutes from time before Jenni Hermoso added the third inside injury time to wrap up the victory.

The 25-year-old has now scored three goals in two appearances against the French side and these were her third and fourth in two warm-up outings.

After Sunday’s win, Barcelona are due to travel to France to face Montpellier in the second leg of the double-header on August 9. 

Barcelona will seek to repeat their excellent run in the competition last season when they battle Atletico in the first-ever all-Spanish tie in Bilbao.

Oshoala made history as the first African to score in a Women’s Champions League final when she netted in Barcelona’s 4-1 loss to Lyon, and she’ll hope to celebrate European success again this term.