Ousmane Dembele and his attacker players’ colleagues may have stolen most of the Paris Saint-Germain race in the Champions League of this season, but the form of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was just as important to take French giants to the edge of the final. The host of PSG Arsenal at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday in the second stage of their semi-final and entered the match with an advance of 1-0 after last week’s shock in London. Dembele scored the only goal at the Emirates stadium, his 33rd of the season in all competitions further stressing his status as head of the Paris attack following the departure of Kylian Mbappe.
But Donnarumma also played a key role with five stops, including two in the highest class to deny Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.
The Italian was also missing when Arsenal scored at the start of the second half, leaving his line to a free kick and moving far from the ball, only to be rescued by an offside decision.
But Donnarumma’s shot allowed Luis Enrique to thwart the Gunners and followed decisive contributions against Liverpool and Aston Villa in each of the two previous towers.
“To be champions, you need a large goalkeeper,” said PSG captain Marquinhos, after the Donnarumma backup, prevented them from completely yielding to a villa battle in the second stage of their quarter -final.
PSG won the first leg 3-1 at home and experienced two goals in advance at halftime in the return, only for Villa marks three times and threatens to level the link.
Donnarumma came to the rescue with superb interventions to prevent a shot from Marcus Rashford and a head of your Tielemans in particular.
“We are aware of the goalkeeper we have, he is one of the best. Many people have doubts about him, but not for us,” said Achraf Hakimi after this match.
“We know that he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. We are happy to have it at PSG and we hope that it will remain as long as possible.”
The Italian had already been the hero of the victory of the penalty shootout in Liverpool in the last 16, saving from Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones.
New contract?
There is a meaning in Paris of the 26 -year -old player, who is 1.96 m high, winning at the club he joined in 2021.
Donnarumma had just played for Italy in their triumph of the European championship, playing heroic as they beat England to Wembley 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 an expensive error in a collapse of the Champions League against Real Madrid.
Donnarumma continued to settle as a goalkeeper of the first choice of PSG, but he has not always convinced.
There has been a lot of speculation that the club could seek to replace the goalkeeper whose contract expires at the end of next season.
PSG was even linked to Lucas Chevalier de Lille, an exceptional perspective at the age of only 23 years which has already penetrated the full French team.
The quality of Donnarumma as stopper has never really been questioned, but his ability to play with the ball at his feet was.
This is a problem given how coach Luis Enrique loves his team, and the Spaniard notably abandoned Donnarumma for a match in Bayern Munich in November.
Matvey Safonov, the Russian signed before this season, has taken his place.
“I felt that Safonov was better placed to deal with the pressure of Bayern,” insisted Luis Enrique.
Safonov was at fault for the goal that gave Bayern a 1-0 victory, and Donnarumma was quickly restored to the team.
The former goalkeeper of AC Milan, who recently played his 150th match for PSG, now hopes to stay at the club beyond 2026.
“I am eager to stay and extend my contract because it’s my house,” he said earlier this year.
Before thinking about the long -term future, however, Donnarumma and PSG have a final of the Champions League to aim.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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