President Saraloglu speaks out after loss to Trabzonspor: 'I didn't want to be here, but that's the reality'

The match between Trabzonspor and Galatasaray at round 28 of the Turkish Süper Lig ended with a 3-1 victory for the home side Trabzonspor. After the match, Galatasaray club president Erol Saraloglu held a press conference with notable statements, acknowledging his team did not perform as expected while expressing dissatisfaction with the fourth referee's decisions. From the start of the press conference, Saraloglu did not hide his disappointment. 'I absolutely did not want to be here, and I had no such plan. Unfortunately, the fourth referee granted me the 'honor' of being here with you,' he said with bitter remarks. Trabzonspor delivered an excellent performance at home. They scored an early goal in the 4th minute and controlled the match throughout the first half. Saraloglu acknowledged: 'They played a beautiful match and have a strong squad. None of my words are directed at Trabzonspor or meant to diminish their success. They played well and deserved to win.' Regarding the match developments, the Turkish executive stated: 'We could not start the match as well as expected. The goal conceded in the 4th minute made everything more difficult. However, we then tried to regain momentum and searched for opportunities. In the following minutes, we created some dangerous chances, though not clear-cut ones. Notably, we had a chance to equalize when the ball hit the post, but luck was not on our side.' The first half ended with Trabzonspor leading 3-0. Saraloglu explained: 'After the second goal came from an individual error, we entered the break at a disadvantage. In the second half, with some squad changes, we balanced the game and created more opportunities. However, we could not generate too many direct face-to-face situations with the opposing goalkeeper. Before the third goal, we had prepared our attacking situations quite well.' Despite the heavy defeat, Saraloglu emphasized: 'Whether the result is 3-0 or 4-0, it does not affect our strength or our objectives. I can promise you that we will overcome this.' What truly frustrated Saraloglu was not the match result, but what happened around the fourth referee. He shared: 'What excites me to the point of not knowing what words to use is my thoughts about the fourth referee. I have no issues or complaints whatsoever with the main referee. We had no negative communication throughout the match.' According to Saraloglu, coach Okan Buruk only tried to remind the referees with the sole purpose of speeding up the match. He added: 'What coach Okan particularly wanted to emphasize and asked me to say is that he, as the closest person, was only warning the referee to make the match flow faster. Fourth referees need to be experienced, but young people like them cannot manage the technical area well. They can read coach Okan's lip movements, and I affirm that from his mouth came no words lacking respect.' Saraloglu also revealed that the fourth referee instructed the main referee to show a yellow card to coach Okan Buruk simply because he protested a decision. 'The fourth referee told the main referee: "I am inside the lines, nothing is happening, can\'t you see?" And the referee interpreted this as if he was saying "are you blind?" I do not want to say there was "ill intent" here, but I want to bring this situation to your attention.' This match became even more notable when Victor Osimhen, Galatasaray\'s star striker, was absent due to injury. When asked about this, Saraloglu acknowledged: 'Osimhen\'s absence is always felt significantly. The players who take the field are also very valuable, but Osimhen is a different player with a different character. We always felt his absence. For Deniz, we are very confident about the future; he will become a very successful and important player.' Despite the heavy defeat, Saraloglu still expressed confidence in the future. 'We will draw the necessary lessons from this defeat. The upcoming international break will help injured players recover. We will ensure team cohesion. We have not lost anything from our former strength. We have no worries or doubts whatsoever. Our players have character and talent. With team unity, we are a team capable of winning all our upcoming matches. Hopefully, at the end of the season, we will once again become champions, and we have no doubts about that.' Trabzonspor\'s victory over Galatasaray was an unexpected but fully deserved result given the home side\'s performance. The early goal in the 4th minute created significant psychological advantage, and from there Trabzonspor completely controlled the match. The two subsequent goals came from evenly distributed attacking combinations and good utilization of chances. In the second half, although Galatasaray improved their play, they could not breach their opponents\' goal again. This match also revealed Galatasaray\'s excessive reliance on Victor Osimhen. When the Nigerian striker was absent, the Turkish side\'s attack clearly lacked sharpness in finishing situations. This is a problem that coach Okan Buruk needs to solve if he wants to successfully defend the championship. Regarding refereeing, the fourth referee\'s intervention in the main referee\'s decision is causing significant controversy. Many experts believe this was an action exceeding their authority and needs to be reviewed. The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) may need to make adjustments to ensure fairness in matches. With this result, Galatasaray still maintains their lead at the top of the Süper Lig table, but the gap with chasing teams has narrowed considerably. This defeat shows the team still has much to improve, particularly in defensive solidity at crucial moments and the reliance on a single individual in attack. However, with consistent performance throughout most of the season and a quality squad, Galatasaray remains the number one favorite for the championship. The away trip to Trabzonspor\'s stadium ended not as expected, but the season is still long and everything can change. Galatasaray fans hope the team will quickly regain form and continue the title race.