If the first opposition on the lawn of the Parc des Princes was mainly marked by the fratricidal duel between Lucas Hernández and Théo Hernández, the second clash between Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, during the 4th day of group F in the League of Champions, will be directed towards a very Italian spotlight. At San Siro, Tuesday evening’s meeting will have a special flavor for PSG’s Italian goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma. Trained at the Primvera of the Rossoneri, the native of Castellammare di Stabia turned professional at the age of 16 and played 251 games there in the red and black jersey in six seasons, before officially leaving AC Milan for free on the 14th. July 2021, just after Euro 2020, during which the Italian giant was crowned European champion and voted best player in the competition. A departure which has never been accepted by the groups of Milanese fans who have continued to whistle and criticize him since his signing in Paris. Present in the streets of Milan before the clash this Tuesday evening, the editorial staff of French Football Weekly met several Rossoneri supporters.
Questioned at a press conference two weeks ago, before the first round won by the Parisians at the Parc des Princes (3-0), Gianluigi Donnarumma had already discussed the very particular aspect that this double confrontation took on for him: “There will be a lot of emotions, it will be special. We have to put that aside and just think about the match. I feel very good here, it’s like a big family, like I had in Milan. I will always be grateful to Milan. I found a wonderful atmosphere in Paris from the first day. But I want to give everything for PSG now.he declared in front of journalists, at the PSG training center, before returning at length to his infallible attachment to the Rossoneri: “I always gave everything to Milan, so it’s unpleasant to have all this criticism. But I am focused on the match and staying only on the match so as not to be caught up in emotion. The beginnings were not easy here because I had a lot of friends and family in Milan. But little by little, I was able to get my bearings here, and now I have friends, I speak a little of the language and I feel very good”.
“I look forward to her tears almost as much as a victory”
After the chants and insults at the Parc des Princes, the ultras of the Curva Sud published a story apostrophizing the PSG goalkeeper with a photo of a pallet of boxes, leaving the hypothesis of a stormy reception for Donnarumma: “There is perhaps no longer any hatred strictly speaking on the part of fans in general, but rather resentment, in this story Maignan certainly helped to pass the pill. But Tuesday will be the first time that he returns with another jersey under the Curva Sud, for me we will experience a historic chambering. I would be surprised if it was mean, but I am waiting for something very teasing, like a nice revenge to close this story which had a taste of unfinished business. I hope for a grandiose welcome, but subtle, we know that the Curva is preparing something, I would like a group act more than a tifo. The ticket throwing was very good, I would settle for a variation for example accompanied by 90 minutes of whistles”said Marco Pacini, loyal AC Milan supporter.
If the wound is less painful thanks in particular to the Scudetto won by AC Milan and the success of Mike Maignan in the Milanese cages, a large part of the fans refuse to forgive Gianluigi Donnarumma: “I still hate him enormously, I experienced his departure as a betrayal, he was not just a huge prospect, he was our Bandiera (face of the club, editor’s note). From then on, even if I was unfortunately not at San Siro for the match, I would have had great difficulty restraining myself from insulting him with every touch of the ball. For me this match will be crucial for Milan, but in this match there is a confrontation that I am impatiently awaiting between the Curva Sud and the fallen child of the club. To express my resentment a little more, I think I am waiting for his tears almost as much as a victory for the Rossoneri”he continues, specifying that according to him, the Italian doorman had left “for the money without respecting his club and its promises”.
“A flame of hatred that is not about to go out”
To better understand the traces of this departure, it is important to understand the numerous hectic negotiations, postponed or aborted, that the Donnarumma clan and AC Milan have experienced since the goalkeeper’s professional debut: “You have to put context into it. Gigio is a player who has always caused Milan to delay his extensions. In 2017, during a Denmark – Italy match, supporters had already thrown fake tickets at him, while he was still in the youth team. He is a goalkeeper who was thrown into the mix very young and since he joined forces with Mino Raiola, Donnarumma was always the last to extend. Milan supporters will not forget the story they experienced with him and especially the end of this story, hence the reason why he will be whistled by the entire San Siro. His departure left traces for the way in which he left, but especially for the pressure from the Donnarumma clan, led by Mino Raiola.details Teo Contu, young tifoso journalist from AC Milan.
This is not the first time that Gianluigi Donnarumma has returned to San Siro since his transfer. Each meeting of the Squadra Azzurra in Milan brings whistles and criticism against the Parisian goalkeeper. To the point where the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) decided to relocate a match of the Italian national team to Rome against Switzerland in November 2021: “This way of leaving without leaving a penny, he was the first in this line not to respect the club, not to respect the badge, to think only of the financial aspect. Milan knows the difference between the good and the bad. The stadium will be unforgivable against Gigio and I think it will disturb Gigio, since it already disturbed him when it happened with the Nazionale. Between Donnarumma and Milan, there is a flame of hatred that is not about to go out. He very quickly wanted to move up the salary hierarchy at AC Milan. He is the only one for whom Milan made this concession.Teo rightly analyzes.
“Gigio will not be welcome”
However, if all the supporters interviewed in this article have nothing to reproach the goalkeeper on a purely sporting level, his departure and his attitude are still not digested in the spans of San Siro: “Gigio leaves me with very good memories on the pitch. Over the last ten years of Milan, he has been the best player of the team. In the dark years of Milan, he was a player who always responded. He left a bad mark because of his behavior throughout his time with us. There was a first contract renewal which was very expensive for Milan, bringing back his big brother, an amateur player, to be 3rd goalkeeper. Milan gave him a lot and granted him a lot of privileges. All this so that in the end, three years later it would be the same story with Mino Raiola who was pushing”regrets Guillaume who also highlights the efforts made by the management at the time to install the young goalkeeper in the best environment.
Some fans like Guillaume also want to put into perspective this hatred towards Gigio Donnarumma, who is sometimes less violent than other traitors like Hakan Çalhanoğlu. But one thing is certain, the Italian goalkeeper remains a Persona non grata in Lombardy: “I’m not angry anymore no, but yes I will whistle him like the whole stadium on Tuesday. He’s not a player we hate like Hakan Çalhanoğlu, but we don’t like Gigio Donnarumma very much. But he never smeared us afterwards, it was more the end of the relationship which ended badly, but behind it he didn’t smear us like Çalhanoğlu who joined Inter. But now Gigio will not be welcome and we don’t like him very much in Milan. I understand his choice at the time he takes it, not to renew. Milan hadn’t advanced for years and unfortunately for him, because he has remained a Milan supporter since he was little, the moment he leaves, that’s when Milan will start to win, to get closer. and to obtain the Scudetto. I think he didn’t make the right choice, because Paris isn’t the all-risk agency either, but I understand that he wanted to go a step further.”he also specifies.
“We’ve only been thinking about that since the draw”
For the Curva Sud of Milan, Gigio Donnarumma is still “a man without values” and it is for this reason that the members of this faction of Milanese supporters will wear a jersey with the number 71 which means “people of shit” (trans. “shit man”) In La Smorfiafamous artistic and philosophical work on the analysis of dreams and its meanings in Neapolitan culture, another reference to the native guardian of Castellammare di Stabia near Naples: “Today it’s simple. Gigio must understand that he is not, never was and will never be bigger than AC Milan. Everything is ready to welcome him and he will understand and feel our hatred. That’s all we’ve been thinking about since the draw. We’re going to whistle it as it should. Our hatred is as big as our love and support were sincere before”detailed Mirko, a San Siro subscriber since 1994, at length. The bitter taste still does not go away.
Furthermore, a launch of counterfeit notes accompanied by deafening whistles is also planned by the Milanese fans tomorrow evening at San Siro, determined to take up the concept of “Dollarumma”, already widely used during the Nazionale matches since the departure of the goalkeeper For Paris : “Here in Italy, we don’t joke with Calcio. It is very important to us, as much as religion. So if you misbehave with our club, it’s like our family, our faith. Gigio knows it, Gigio understands it, but he will finally experience it in a big European match with his PSG. I don’t know if this is the end of the war between Gigio and us, but if we can, we will continue until the end of his career. It will always be complicated between us.”continues Giacomo, friend of Mirko, who still refuses to forgive the Italian goalkeeper to whom the club “gave everything to make him feel at home”. In any case, they all promise hell to the Italian goalkeeper of PSG. See you tomorrow evening at San Siro.
