“ It was not Donnarumma, but Donna-cata. » Last night, Gianluigi Donnarumma was not spared during our debriefing of the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in the Champions League (2-0). Back in the Ile-de-France cages, the Italian was not at all up to the occasion since he was at fault for the two goals scored by the Gunners. Indeed, he completely missed his exit on Kai Havertz’s opener (20th). Then, he made another mistake on Bukayo Saka’s free kick, even if his teammates didn’t really help him. For all of his work, the FM Editorial Team gave him a score of 3.
We added the following comment: “ Back in the starting lineup since September 14, the Italian played his first Champions League match of the season. And for his return, he gave himself a tough outing against Martinelli from the start (3rd). A way to mark your ground against the Gunners? Not really. Once again, the Italian demonstrated that he was at bay on aerial balls. Starting with a failed exit on Havertz’s opener (20th). A quarter of an hour later, he was not helped by his defense, but he was involved in Saka’s break free kick (35th). He had the merit of making two saves on strikes from Martinelli to avoid the 3-0 (52nd, 75th). Not enough to save his catastrophic record during the first 45 minutes which weighed down his team. »
Gigio is expensive
The rest of the French sports press does not spare Gigio either after his new disasterclass. The Teamwho gave it a rating of 3, wrote about it: “ Can Paris really have such high ambitions with a goalkeeper who makes so many mistakes in the Champions League? Guilty of not going out within his six meters on the first goal (20th), the Italian was less at fault on the second, but just as passive (35th). Twice the ball ended up in his gloves on a recovery from Martinelli (52nd, 75th). » The sports daily also recalled that this is not the first time that he has missed out in the most beautiful of European competitions, since he had already missed out against Karim Benzema’s Real Madrid, in 2022. Same with at FC Barcelona or against Borussia Dortmund last year.
The Team finally adds that the shadow of Matvey Safonov hangs over him, although the former AC Milan player is judged better. For his part, The Parisian gave it a 2 and asked “ how can a 1.96m goalkeeper be so brittle in the air? » In England, Donnarumma was also criticized. THE Daily Mailwho gave it a 4, blurted out: “ A night to forget. Beaten to Arsenal’s first goal and should not have been beaten by Saka’s free kick for 2-0. » In Spain, his performance was also analyzed. A.S. titled “ Arsenal 2- Donnarumma 0 » and used the word “ shame », before dressing the Italian doorman for winter and all other seasons.
Europe points the finger
“ The Gunners claimed their first victory of the season in Europe at the expense of Gianluigi Donnarumma. Something seems to confuse the Italian goalkeeper when the Champions League anthem sounds as, once again, this time at the Emirates Stadium, two of his errors ended up costing Luis Enrique an upset and a defeat for Paris Saint-Germain (2-0). The aerial play and set pieces ended up bringing out the best in Arsenal and the worst in the visiting goalkeeper. Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka scored the home team’s goals. Even if Gianluigi Donnarumma prevented the rout from going any further thanks to two good interventions from Gabriel Martinelli, it was already too late. »
Mundo Deportivo was not kind to him either. “ London crowned Gianluigi Donnarumma best player of Euro 2020, but today he experienced the other side of football in the English capital. Two unworthy errors by the Italian goalkeeper paved the way for the first deserved victory of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in the renewed Champions League and condemned Luis Enrique’s PSG to a 2-0 defeat, which decided to exclude Ousmane Dembélé of the workforce for disciplinary reasons. » Finally, at home in Italy, Gigio was not totally overwhelmed. La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote: “ The goals of the Havertz-Saka duo crush PSG. Gigio, what mistakes! Italy’s goalkeeper finds himself in the dock. » Corriere dello Sport for his part, blurted out: “ The goalkeeper, back after the injury, does not seem impeccable and his companions do not know how to help him. »
