Without Victor Osimhen, the reigning champions, AC Milan trashed Napoli 4-0 in a Serie A game played at the Diego Maradona stadium on Sunday to reduce Partenopei’s lead to 16.

Rafael Leao scored two goals, and Brahim Diaz and Alexis Saelemeakers scored one each as Milan showed the champions-elect, Napoli, they are still the Serie A champions.

With 16 points lead over Lazio, their closest rivals, and 10 games to the end of the season, Napoli should get over the line and claim their first-ever Scudetto in more than 30 years.

But the clash against Milan on Sunday showed how important Victor Osimhen is to this Napoli.

Before the game, reports in Italy suggested Napoli will roll on without Victor Osimhen. The media and statements from Napoli officials said they will be just fine.

“Obviously, he is an important player,” Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli told DAZN before the Milan game.

“But we have many in this squad and I felt the same way after Giacomo Raspadori’s injury. We have the players to ensure we don’t suffer too much in his absence.”

No one expects him to say they won’t win games without Osimhen, but he could have made his points without trivializing his impact on the team.

So, sorry, Cristiano Giuntoli, you have many important players, but Victor Osimhen is the star boy, he is the one who makes your team thick.

It is not just about the goals, it is more about other things that come with having Victor Osimhen on your team. He is the leader of this team, the coach confirmed this earlier in the season.

What Victor Osimhen brings to the table apart from goals can be summed up in this statement made by Luciano Spalletti in February.

“At the end of the first half, he was a little angry with me as well going into the break as I had told him off.

“The first thing he said was, hey, don’t forget what happened last season. Osimhen is a leader, he has the right mentality, the desire to work with the collective and fight for the result.”

His leadership on the pitch, his mentality, his ability to spur his teammates on, and his selflessness make this team better.

If he didn’t hand over the penalty responsibility to other players, he would have at least five more goals while some players will have 5 fewer.

He puts the team first, Victor Osimhen could have joined Yakubu Aiyegbeni on the list of Nigerian players with a hat trick in the Champions League.

But he handed the ball to Poitr who was desperate to get on the score sheet denying his mate a place in history.

After the match, Osimhen was not even angry at his teammate for denying him the chance to get a champions league hat trick, instead, he simply said his goals will come with or without penalties.

“Zielinski asked if he could take the penalty and I said no problem,” said after helping Napoli beat Frankfurt in March.

“It doesn’t matter who scores as long as the team achieves success.

“It’s the most important thing. I know my goals will come with or without penalties.”

You can argue, how can missing one player result in losing 4-0 especially when you have only conceded 16 goals in your last 27 Serie A games?

The answer is yes, it is possible when your play against a quality side like Milan without a player like Victor Osimhen and what he adds to the team.

The media were also pointing to their stats, mentioning Napoli’s seven wins in seven games without Victor Osimhen.

A look into those games showed the stats were useless, Napoli’s only tough game in that run was against a struggling Milan who were their star man Rafael Leao.

Napoli’s run of 7 wins without Victor Osimhen

Napoli 1-0 Spezia
Rangers 0-3 Napoli
Milan 1-2 Napoli
Napoli 3-1 Torino
Ajax 1-6 Napoli
Cremonese 1-4 Napoli
Napoli 3-0 Rangers

Well, against a complete Milan side, the stats meant nothing, they were taken to the cleaners.

And judging by the titles after the Milan drubbing, the Italian media and those doubting, now know better who is Napoli’s star boy.

Victor might still miss one or two more games, even though he assured fans he would be ready very soon.

Napoli’s next five fixtures:

April 7 – Lecce vs Napoli (Serie A) ❓
April 12 – Milan vs Napoli (UCL) ❓
April 15 – Napoli vs Verona (Serie A) ❓
April 18 – Napoli vs Milan (UCL) ❓
April 23 – Juventus vs Napoli (Serie A) ❓

You would expect Napoli to beat Lecce even without Victor Osimhen, but they will need Italian Serie A’s only €100m player against Milan.

After Sunday’s meeting, Napoli and Milan will lock horns in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals with the first leg at San Siro on April 12 and the decider on April 18.