Paris Saint-Germain and the Italian national team goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma recently shared his thoughts on his current situation at PSG and various aspects of his career in an interview with Viva El Futbol.
The Italian shot-stopper expressed satisfaction with his current form at PSG, stating, “Now at PSG it’s going well, we’ve progressed in the Champions League, the playoffs were the first objective since there was a bit of pressure. The victory against City gave us a great boost. I’ve never seen the public push so hard.”
Addressing the criticism he often faces, Donnarumma revealed his frustration: “It really bothers me when you make a mistake and people are there to pick on that single error. When you play a lot with your feet, you have to anticipate errors. You need to understand the risk, when you play a Champions League match, you have to understand when the risk is worth taking into account because the play can give you an advantage.”
Reflecting on the Euro 2020 final, Donnarumma shared an interesting insight: “I had too much confidence that Jorginho would score. His mistake caught me off guard, from then on I completely lost count and then I was too focused, that’s why I didn’t realize we had won until everyone came to hug me.”
When asked about Luis Enrique, Donnarumma praised his coach: “I had the fortune to meet the coach last year, it’s really nice to work with him, as a person, how he helps you, how he makes you grow. It’s too easy to stay in the comfort zone, he always tries to stimulate you. He provokes you and then you understand that he was right. We are a young team, but very strong. We have many strong young players.”
Donnarumma also spoke fondly of his debut, crediting Sinisa Mihajlovic: “Sinisa was like a second father to me, he was too important to me. I had finished the final stages with the youth team, they called me to do the retreat with the first team. I started training, there was Alfredo Magni, today at Monza, as goalkeeper coach. I had seen that the coach wanted to kick, he put me in goal, I understood that he had confidence in me.”
The goalkeeper shared some light-hearted moments about his teammate Kolo Muani: “He’s a very good guy, I’m too much his friend. When there were rumors about Juve, I joked with him, I put the song under him, I stuck Juve stickers on his locker. I’m very happy with how he started. For me, he can do very well, he’s a strong striker.”
Regarding the controversial foul by Benzema in a past match, Donnarumma admitted: “Was it a foul? Leave it, but probably I made a mistake too: I should have stayed on the ground. If you don’t whistle for a foul, they score, he’ll never take away the goal at the Bernabeu with that crowd there. Maybe if I had stayed on the ground, it’s still here with me.”
Finally, Donnarumma addressed the competition for his position: “I always work the same, I don’t need competition to perform at my best, then it’s their choices. Whether I have someone behind me or not, I always go 100%. It’s my job, I go to the field early, I do my job. If someone irritates me, what do I do? I respond, the goalkeeper group must always be healthy, we joke, we laugh, then we work, otherwise we don’t work well.”
