The Nigeria international provided an assist for the club although she insists getting to the next round is all that matters
Asisat Oshoala insists she is solely focused on helping Barcelona win football matches rather than putting pressure on herself to score for the Catalans in the Women’s Champions League.
Despite only managing to score once in four previous appearances for Barcelona in this year’s European competition, the Nigeria international still boasts of 26 goals in 26 outings across all competitions.
Oshoala, who had last played a competitive match in 1-0 win against Deportivo la Coruna in February before coronavirus lockdown, was handed a starting role by manager Lluis Cortes against Atletico Madrid on Friday evening.
The 26-year-old missed two good chances but contributed an inadvertent assist after her miscued acrobatic attempt fell to Kheira Hamraoui and she went on to score the winner 10 minutes from time..
In spite of struggling to find the target against Atletico, the forward, who scored three goals in recent 9-1 aggregate win over Montipeller attributed their unconvincing win to a five-month hiatus.
“This was our first game in a very long time so a lot of things could have been better,” Oshoala told Uefa.com.
“Coming from a couple of months without playing, trying to get our rhythm going, we don’t expect everything to be perfect but we can be better, for sure.
“Getting a goal at the end of the game was a very good one for us. That’s what big teams do. Just make sure you get the goal whichever way you can.
“You have to respect every side, they’re a very good team – one of the best in Europe. It was a tough game, but at the end of the day we were victorious and that’s the most important thing.
“It will give us a lot of confidence and a different mindset going into the next game.
Friday’s quarterfinal win in Bilbao confirms Barcelona’s semi-final date with Wolfsburg, who thrashed Glasgow City 9-1 to advance.
Tuesday’s tie will see the two teams meeting for the third time in the competition, and the first since 2014 when the Spanish side suffered a 5-0 quarterfinal aggregate defeat to the German giants.
With Wolfsburg aiming to reach their fifth final appearance this year, Oshoala has backed her side to ruin the German’s dream and realise a back-to-back final qualification at Anoeta Stadium.
“It’s still the same mindset, we want to go in and give our best all the time,” she continued.
“We want to make sure we play good football and try to get through the next round. We have to enjoy the moment now and work harder for the next game.
“I think we’re one of the best teams in Europe. Each game we try to give our best.
“Winning games is something that comes from hard work from the team. As a team, we just hope to keep getting better.”
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