Very often subject to criticism, sometimes rightly or wrongly, since his arrival in the Parisian cages in July 2021, Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has had a very special week with Paris Saint-Germain. Tuesday evening, the native of Castellammare di Stabia, trained in the Primvera of the Rossoneri, returned to the San Siro pitch to challenge his former club AC Milan, which he left after having played 251 matches in the red jersey. and black in six seasons, in the Champions League. A meeting marked by the defeat of PSG (2-1) during this 4th day of group F but also the hostile reception reserved by the Milanese ultras, in particular from the Curva Sud, who had prepared a major device to destabilize Donnarumma, always considered as persona non grata in Lombardy.
Fake banknotes, banners, insults, whistles… During this match against AC Milan, the Italian goalkeeper was pushed around, notably being sprayed with thousands of small notes bearing his image with the inscriptions “mercenary” and “Dollarumma » under the tifosi stand, where several anti-Gigio banners were also proudly displayed which said “Donnarumma, son of a bitch”. But paradoxically, Gianluigi Donnarumma had a good game on Tuesday evening despite his team’s defeat, posting a total of six saves and very few errors in his kicking game. He had delayed Milan’s second goal several times during the match. Even on Rafael Leao’s opener, the Italian had repelled the danger for the first time. In Milan, it was a very undisturbed Donnarumma who responded and a few days later against Stade de Reims in the championship, the PSG goalkeeper put on the gloves to disgust his opponents.
Decisive to Auguste-Delaune!
Luis Enrique’s players therefore traveled this Saturday afternoon to Champagne-Ardenne to cross swords with Stade de Reims on the pitch of the Auguste-Delaune stadium, during the 12th day of Ligue 1. If PSG finally dominated the debates on the scoreboard (0-3), we had to wait for the Rouge et Bleu to really take cover against a team that was never an easy maneuver and had a very solid start to the season. Kylian Mbappé grabbed the spotlight by scoring a hat-trick but it was Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma who allowed PSG to maintain their one-goal lead for more than an hour. The one who was launched into professional action at the age of 16 with AC Milan made a total of seven saves during this meeting. Most of them being decisive but above all impressive.
The Gianluigi Donnarumma festival started quite early in the match. In turn, he intervened on Junya Ito’s free kick (22nd), before making high-class saves in front of Amir Richardson (41st) and Emannuel Agbadou (44th). Returning from the locker room, the Italian continued to put on a show for Auguste-Delaune by disgusting the Reims attackers, particularly on his line in front of Joseph Okumu (56th). After Mbappé’s second goal, Gianluigi Donnarumma was once again imperious in front of the unfortunate Marshall Munesti twice (71st, 77th). Apart from a few scares at the restart, there is nothing to complain about the performance of the Italian goalkeeper, a great way to end a spectacular week for the Squadra Azzurra goalkeeper. A lot of necessary confidence, for a goalkeeper often singled out for his mental flaws, while Italy will play two decisive matches for their qualification for Euro 2024 next week. Great Gigio.
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