Zaidu Sanusi’s performances in the Champions League have broadly defined his debut season at Porto. Sanusi has a goal in Europe’s top club competition, and there was that satisfactory performance against Manchester City.

Not that he has performed any less in domestic competitions for Porto, but the Champions League offers a different level of exposure, and the Nigerian left-back has not grabbed the opportunity with both of his feet.

On Tuesday, March 6, 2021, the 23-year-old had a fantastic first half as Porto knocked out Juventus from the Champions League.

He was outstanding in that first 45 minutes on both ends of the pitch.about:blank

He was a threat straight away in the early minutes, skipping past Juan Cuadrado in the seventh minute and brilliantly picking out Mehdi Taremi, whose shot caused problems for Juventus.

In possession, he was calm, making sure he picked out teammates with fine passes. That was how Porto got their first goal.

He received the ball after an overlapping run and picked out Mateus Uribe in the middle. Uribe quickly made a forward pass before Porto got a penalty, from which they took the lead.

In the second half, there were less of those forward runs and more defending as Juventus got more hold of the game and pressed for goals.

Juve did get the goals, but unlike in the first leg, Sunusi was not found wanting in any of the goals Porto conceded.

Porto conceded two before he was taken off in the 71st minute. The Portuguese giants scored in extra-time to get two away goals which took them to the quarter-finals.