Osimhen-less Galatasaray crumble 0-4 to Trabzonspor – “A passionless team”

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen watched painfully as Galatasaray suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Trabzonspor on Saturday, with CBS pundit Michael Lahoud questioning the players’ character, Soccernet.ng reports.

The reigning Turkish champions travelled to Papara Park hoping to maintain their unbeaten start to the Süper Lig season, but instead produced one of their poorest performances of the campaign.

Trabzonspor needed only four minutes to take the lead, with Mohamed Salah capitalising on a defensive mistake before finishing past Ugurcan Cakir.

Noah Saviolo doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 39th minute before Salah struck again just before half-time to leave Galatasaray 3-0 down at the break.

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Salah completed his hat-trick in the 80th minute as Trabzonspor sealed a statement victory, leaving Galatasaray with their first league defeat of the season.

Lahoud: Galatasaray look ordinary without Osimhen

The defeat came with Osimhen watching from the sidelines as he continues his recovery from a right-adductor injury. The Nigerian striker suffered the injury during Galatasaray’s 3-2 victory over İstanbul Başakşehir on September 4.

Galatasaray subsequently confirmed a moderate-to-advanced strain with bleeding in the right groin area, and he is now expected to return after the international break.

For Lahoud, however, Osimhen’s absence exposed just how heavily Galatasaray depend on the Nigerian.

“No Victor Osimhen. Without Victor Osimhen, this team looks very ordinary,” the 40-year-old said on the Sports Golazo show.

The former Sierra Leone international was left disappointed by what he saw from Galatasaray, especially after previously backing them to make an impression in the UEFA Champions League.

“I was very high about what Galatasaray could become in the UEFA Champions League, but watching them play without passion is just sad.”

Rafael Leao singled out after poor display

Lahoud reserved some of his strongest criticism for Rafael Leao, who started alongside Leroy Sané and Deniz Gül in Galatasaray’s attack.

The Portugal international was unable to inspire a comeback after Salah’s early opener, although Galatasaray did create opportunities during the first half. The visitors’ best spell came before Trabzonspor’s second goal, with Ismail Jakobs hitting the post and Sané and Davinson Sánchez also going close.

Lahoud used Leao as an example of what he considers a bigger problem within the team.

“There’s one player who just epitomises the lack of passion; it’s Rafael Leao.”

The CBS Sports Golazo pundit then questioned whether Leao’s contribution was acceptable given his reported salary.

“How much does he make again? €288,000 a week? To put in that sort of performance is unacceptable. That’s a big club, not a small club.”

“It just seems like he’s sitting there on vacation, it doesn’t look like he can grab the second opportunity to fall in love with football again. He needs to wake up again.”

Leao’s performance will inevitably attract scrutiny because Galatasaray signed him as one of the headline additions to a squad that already contained several established stars, but Saturday’s defeat was not solely down to the Portuguese forward.

Galatasaray conceded twice before half-time after losing possession in dangerous areas, while their inability to respond to Trabzonspor’s intensity left them exposed several times.

The visitors also saw coach Okan Buruk sent off in the 72nd minute for protesting a decision, before Lesley Ugochukwu was dismissed following a VAR review late in the game.

Lahoud’s previous thoughts on Victor Osimhen

Lahoud’s comments about Osimhen carry additional weight because this is not the first time the CBS Sports pundit has highlighted the Nigerian’s influence.

During Nigeria’s turbulent 2025 World Cup qualifying campaign, Lahoud argued that Osimhen was the country’s leading personality and questioned William Troost-Ekong’s leadership.

“You need to have serious leadership, and the only leader in Nigeria right now is Victor Osimhen.”

He also argued that Nigeria needed to match Osimhen’s intensity on the pitch.

“If he plays like he did against Benin, and the rest of the team gets up to his level, Nigeria will be at the World Cup.”

Troost-Ekong responded strongly to Lahoud’s criticism, saying he had found the comments disrespectful and that Nigeria had multiple leaders within the squad.

Now, months later, Lahoud is making a similar observation about Osimhen’s club side. The 27-year-old’s absence has coincided with Galatasaray losing their Champions League opener 3-1 to Sporting CP and now suffering a 4-0 humiliation against Trabzonspor.

That does not mean Osimhen alone would have prevented Saturday’s defeat, but his absence has once again raised questions about how much Galatasaray’s attacking identity depends on the Nigerian striker.