Ajax 0-3 Galatasaray: Dutch giants fail to neutralise Osimhen as Super Eagles striker bags UCL hattrick

Ajax manager John Heitinga's highly-publicised pre-match plan to "neutralise" Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen ended in spectacular failure tonight, as the Nigerian forward ran riot, scoring a magnificent hat-trick to secure a dominant 3-0 victory for Galatasaray in the Champions League.

The Dutch giants, struggling with a crippling European losing streak, simply had no answer for the power, speed, and penalty-box intelligence of the Nigerian international in a one-sided affair at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

Ahead of the match, Heitinga had stressed his experience as a former defender would be key to stopping Osimhen, insisting his defence needed to be "smart" and maintain "good communication" to combat the striker's explosiveness.

The Super Eagles star opened the scoring in the 59th minute, stooping to power a close-range header past the Ajax goalkeeper, directly exploiting the defensive distances Heitinga had warned about. 

He then added two goals from the penalty spot in the 66th and 78th minutes, both resulting from VAR-awarded handballs, confirming Galatasaray's third successive European win.

Osimhen’s hat-trick—his first in the Champions League—takes his personal tally to a phenomenal five goals in his last two UCL matches, proving too sharp for an Ajax backline that was anything but "smart."

The 26-year-old was substituted in the 80th minute, having already done the job and left Heitinga's defensive blueprint in tatters.

The devastating result not only cements Galatasaray's position in the league phase table but also heaps intolerable pressure on Heitinga, whose side's defensive organisation and tactical failures against their key threat contributed to one of their most humbling European defeats.