Gianluigi Donnarumma stands tall in PSG’s Champions League run

PARIS – Ousmane Dembele and his fellow attacking players may have stolen most of the limelight on Paris Saint-Germain’s run in this season’s Champions League, but the form of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has been just as important in taking the French giants to the brink of the final.

PSG host Arsenal at the Parc des Princes on May 7 in the second leg of their semi-final, and come into the match with a 1-0 lead following last week’s clash in London.

Dembele scored the only goal at the Emirates Stadium, his 33rd of the season in all competitions further underlining his status as the leader of the team’s attack in the wake of Kylian Mbappe’s departure.

But Donnarumma played a key part too with five saves, including two of the highest class to deny Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard. The Italian’s shot-stopping allowed Luis Enrique’s side to thwart the Gunners and followed decisive contributions against Liverpool and Aston Villa in each of the two previous rounds.

“To be champions you need a great goalkeeper,” said PSG captain Marquinhos, after Donnarumma’s array of saves prevented them from caving in completely to a Villa fightback in the second leg of their quarter-final.

PSG won the first leg 3-1 at home and were two goals ahead at half-time in the return, only for Villa to score three times and threaten to level the tie. Donnarumma came to the rescue with superb interventions to keep out a Marcus Rashford shot and a Youri Tielemans header in particular.

“We are aware of the goalkeeper we have, he’s one of the best. Lots of people have doubts about him, but not us. We know he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. We are pleased to have him at PSG and we hope he stays for as long as possible,” said defender Achraf Hakimi after that game.

Donnarumma had already been the hero in the penalty shoot-out win away to Liverpool in the last 16, saving from Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones.

There is a sense in Paris of the 26-year-old, who is 1.96m, finally imposing himself at the club he joined in 2021. He had just starred for Italy in their European Championship triumph that year, performing heroics as they beat England at Wembley on penalties to win the trophy.

But he was forced to share the gloves with Keylor Navas in his first season, in which he was notably guilty of a costly error in a Champions League collapse against Real Madrid.

Donnarumma did go on to establish himself as PSG’s first-choice goalkeeper, but he has not always convinced. There has been plenty of speculation that the club might look to replace the custodian whose contract expires at the end of next season.

His quality as a shot-stopper has never really been called into question, but his ability to play out with the ball at his feet has.

That is an issue given the way coach Enrique likes his team to play, and the Spaniard notably dropped Donnarumma for a game at Bayern Munich in November.

Matvey Safonov, the Russian signed ahead of this season, took his place. But he was at fault for the goal which gave Bayern a 1-0 win, and Donnarumma was promptly restored.

The former AC Milan goalkeeper, who recently played his 150th game for PSG, now hopes to stay at the club beyond 2026. Before thinking about the long-term future, however, he has a Champions League final to aim for. AFP