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The new war of the guardians. After a rather quiet 2023-24 season, Paris Saint-Germain’s favorite soap opera has made its big return to your screens. Indeed, Luis Enrique has relaunched the debates around the number position in the Ile-de-France cages. A saga which has seen many twists and turns in recent years with Salvatore Sirigu, Kevin Trapp, Alphonse Areola, Gianluigi Buffon and even Keylor Navas in the main roles. This time, it is Gianluigi Donnarumma (25 years old) who is at the center of the stage. A strong starter, he is now seriously threatened by Matvey Safonov. It’s not really a surprise since the 25-year-old Russian announced the color after signing his contract until June 2029. When he was asked if he was ready to become Gigio’s understudy in the capital , he answered very clearly: “but who told you that? No one told me that.” He then elaborated at greater length on the subject.
“No one ever told me I was number two. I come to Paris to fight. I want to play football. Even if they had told me I was number two, I wouldn’t have listened to them. It’s up to me to give the best of myself. I don’t see myself as a number two. I don’t want to be a replacement. If they put me as number two, it won’t be easy for number one… I’m going to fight with him constantly. I have never lost a competition. I have always been the number one goalkeeper. In Krasnodar I have always been number one. In the national team, I was a substitute in the first match, then I became the number one goalkeeper. I have always been number one until now. I can’t be a substitute. (…) I am Russian and no one knows me here in France. Maybe they don’t plan to put me number one right away yet. But I believe in it.”
“Gigio” sent to the bench last night
And obviously, he was right. Pointed out for his irregularity or even his errors during major meetings in Europe, “Gigio” would increasingly annoy Luis Enrique, who would not appreciate it if he did not apply his instructions as recently explained The Team. For all these reasons and surely others, “Lucho” decided to give Matvey Safonov a chance. Last night, during a crucial match against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, the Asturian started the Russian (6 matches this season) and left the Italian (11 matches this season) on the sidelines. A strong choice and assumed by the main interested party, despite the 1-0 defeat of PSG and the misfortune of Safonov, who had been rather reassuring before that. “My goal is for all my players to be ready for the match we are playing. We knew Bayern would do this type of pressing and I thought Safonov would be the best player to overcome that.”
Then, Luis Enrique added that he was the one and only responsible for the Paris debacle. If his players are not exempt from all reproaches, he is partly right since he made the choices. Moreover, his decision to leave Donnarumma on the bench caused a lot of talk in France, but also in Italy, the country of the Parisian goalkeeper. Contacted by us, Michele Tossani, journalist for Tuttosport and the Corriere della Serraadmitted to being surprised by the decision of the PSG coach. “I think Gianluigi Donnarumma is a great talent, but he has not progressed as expected. His problem is the kicking game. However, I don’t understand the choice of Luis Enrique because Safonov is not flawless. However, I would be surprised if Donnarumma becomes number 2. Afterwards I don’t know what Luis Enrique thinks. But for last night, I don’t understand his choice. Donnarumma remains one of the best goalkeepers in Europe. »
Italy questions itself
The feeling is somewhat the same for Valentina Clemente, a journalist specializing in Italian football who followed PSG for several years. “If we have to redo the whole story to give a slightly broader framework, we know that at PSG, the goalkeeper position has always been a little different compared to other clubs. We’ve seen it in recent years with all the stories between Salvatore Sirigu, Kevin Trapp, Keylor Navas, etc. Now it’s Donnarumma’s turn. It’s clear that he alternates between magnificent performances and slightly tougher situations with somewhat “stupid” mistakes. It lacks a bit of continuity, it’s true. In a situation like that of PSG currently in the Champions League, I think that Luis Enrique made a strong choice to demonstrate something. Surely fate turned against him as Safonov made a mistake that cost the match. I don’t know to what extent this choice of not giving continuity to this position can be a win-win. It’s not a good thing for everyone.”
She continues: “It’s a delicate position, where it’s not easy at the high level to have this reaction and speed mechanism. I don’t think Safonov has much experience to make a difference. Afterwards he can have a good match but it also depends on the players in front of him. PSG’s defense has always been a question mark. It’s complicated to say that he did the right thing to put Donnarumma on the bench or that he was wrong. In my opinion, it’s just that when you make a choice, you have to pursue it unless the situation is catastrophic. Which is not the case. You have to work continuously to build confidence. Otherwise, it would have been better to change goalkeepers at the start of the season. Now that the season has started, it’s complicated to add that spice and competition between the goalkeepers.” And this is obviously only the beginning, especially since Luis Enrique has not excluded Arnau Tenas (0 matches played this season), a goalkeeper he brought in and whom he greatly appreciates, from the equation.
