Will the Nigerian striker get his chance in the first UEFA Champions League home game for the Serbian giants?
Peter Olayinka spent 22 minutes on the pitch during the Serbian side’s opening encounter of the UEFA Champions League season against Manchester City after coming on as a second-half substitute but failed to make a difference.
On Wednesday, Crvena Zvezda will face Young Boys at their home stadium, Rajko Mitic, in Belgrade. Olayinka, 27, joined the red and whites this summer on a free transfer from Slavia Prague, with his estimated current value according to Transfermarkt being €5 million. Since then, the Nigerian has played eight matches in the Serbian Super Liga, scoring one goal and providing three assists.
The striker enjoys a lot of trust from the manager in the Super Liga, but will this trust extend beyond the local championships, considering the fact that Crvena Zvezda feels more capable of playing attacking football at home than away?
Nevertheless, the UEFA official website predicts that Olayinka will start the game on the bench, waiting for his chance. The same fate may await Young Boys’ Gambian forward, Ebrima Colley. The Swiss side’s head coach will likely prefer Meschak Ellia from DR Congo, who scored the only goal for YB in their defeat against Leipzig in the first game, as a starter in Belgrade.
