Lens – PSG: Gianluigi Donnarumma, a boss response!

“I was one of the first to hit him last season, because he wasn’t decisive on the first saves he had to make. This year, he reversed the trend. I find it decisive. He has reached a milestone. I find him very good on his line. For me, he has extraordinary abilities, he has incredible reflexes. But with Luis Enrique’s game design, he is very poorly exploited. The Spanish coach will have to change his principle. With this principle of play, he puts Donnarumma in difficulty. The one who is not good is Luis Enrique”. Here is what Lionel Charbonnier, 1998 world champion, visibly burned by the criticism leveled at the last Parisian rampart, recently declared. While waiting to find the culprit, the former coach of La Roja lined up the Transalpine for the 16th time of the season on the pitch of RC Lens.

A logical choice and once again justified in view of the performance achieved by the former Milan goalkeeper… Very often criticized for his footing errors and his detrimental swings in concentration, the native of Castellammare di Stabia has, in fact, proven that he remained no less imperial on his line. Sunday evening, PSG can also thank him. By repelling Przemysław Frankowski’s penalty in the first moments of this clash (7th), the Italian international (60 caps) changed the appearance of this meeting. Well helped by the full axis strike of the Polish piston, the Parisian number 99 thus stunned the Lensois who were finally overwhelmed by the vivacity of the Barcola-Mbappé-Dembélé trio. A real feat when we know that Frankowski had so far missed none in Ligue 1 out of four attempts.

Under pressure, Donnarumma sublimates

Credited with a 7 by the FM editorial team and the great architect of this victory (2-0), the 24-year-old player – who has only conceded 4 of the last 8 penalties suffered in L1 – will have otherwise held his position perfectly . Author of another save on a shot outside the area from Wahi (23rd), he also lay down on his right to catch the attempt from El Aynaoui (55th). With four saves in total and decisive in the three points ultimately pocketed by the Rouge et Bleu, the person concerned also received the compliments of his coach at a press conference. “He’s one of the three best goalkeepers in the world without any hesitation. And it’s wonderful to have a goalkeeper like him.”rejoiced the 53-year-old Spaniard in particular.

A flattering media release which will not fail to reassure the 1m96 right-hander, who is also very seduced by the philosophy of his new coach, as he recalled recently: “the job of guard? It’s the most beautiful but it’s also the most difficult. As soon as the goalkeeper makes a mistake, it quickly becomes very complicated. Luis Enrique? He is a great coach, who makes his teams play well. He wants his players to dominate, to always play with the ball. He doesn’t put pressure on you. If you make a mistake, he will tell you that it’s normal, that you are not a robot.. Suspended against Nantes and Lille after his red card received against HAC during the 14th day, Gianluigi Donnarumma was, in fact, increasingly discussed in recent weeks. Yes, but here it is, if Arnau Tenas, for his part, proved that he was ready to take advantage of the slightest slack from his teammate, the performance performed by the Italian on Sunday evening, comforts him (even more) a little more in its number 1 status.