Champions League Round of 16: Nigerian Players to Watch
by Joseph King | by Cydias Aujard
Center Stage: Leverkusen’s Lethal Duo
Undoubtedly the two biggest names on this list belong to one of Europe’s most exciting squads at the moment! Leverkusen shook up the established order in the Bundesliga last season when they claimed their first ever league title. This time around, they’ll have their eyes on European glory. Awaiting them in the round of 16 is a high-profile matchup against German rivals Bayern Munich. Make sure to keept up with the action with our Champions League live score tool on SportyTrader.
While not having as prolific a campaign as last season, Victor Boniface is still a major threat when he takes to the field. Boniface broke onto the scene in 2023/24 with Leverkusen when he scored 21 goals and chipped in nine assists in 34 appearances across all competitions. He still has a strong goal record this season, finding the net 10 times in 19 appearances overall. Boniface has made 11 appearances for the national team since September 2023 but is still awaiting his first international goal.
Nathan Tella, who made his Nigeria debut in November of 2023, has played a big role in Leverkusen’s system since coming over from Southampton at the start of the 2023/24 season. Tella is usually deployed in one of the attacking three positions in Xabi Alonso’s 3-4-2-1 formation and has so far scored three goals and added three assists in 30 appearances this season.
Check out some 2024/25 Champions League stats for both players below!
| Player name | Minutes played | Goals | Shots per 90 minutes | Successful dribles per 90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor Boniface | 213 | 1 | 3.72 | 2.48 |
| Nathan Tella | 329 | 1 | 3.28 | 0.27 |
Club Brugge’s talented defensive midfielder
One of the other Nigerian players to watch in the Champions League round of 16 is Raphael Onyedika. The 23-year-old is one of the top defensive midfielders in the Nigerian national team and is starting to attract serious interest from some of Europe’s top clubs.
Onyedika has been a staple in the Club Brugge side since joining in August of 2022. He’s already gone on to make 126 appearances for his current club in three seasons, which includes 16 Champions League appearances in total. For his country, Onyedika has made 11 appearances and has scored one goal.
He played the full 180 minutes in his team’s upset victory over Atalanta in the knockout round playoff, as they claimed a superb 3-1 win in Bergamo in the second leg to ultimately secure the 5-2 aggregate victory. Now, Club Brugge will look to keep their fairytale run going as they meet up with Aston Villa in the round of 16.
Check out Raphael Onyedika’s 2024/25 Champions League stats below:
| Player name | Minutes played | Pass accuracy | Duels won | Recoveries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raphael Onyedika | 760 | 89.3% | 33 | 33 |
Lille’s Super Eagles hopeful
Loaned from Ajax, Chuba Akpom is registered with the Lille Champions League squad for their matchup against Dortmund in the round of 16. Akpom, whose parents are Nigerian, represented England up to the U21 level but switched his allegiance to Nigeria in 2019.
He’s since reaffirmed multiple times his desire to play for the Super Eagles but is still awaiting his first call up. The 29-year-old will be hoping to turn heads during his time in France and has already scored twice for Les Dogues in four appearances so far.
