THE ITALIAN SHOWED DUBITATIVO IN THE DUEL IN FRONT OF BARÇA
FC Barcelona is already studying the possible weak points of Paris Saint-Germain facing the transcendental meeting of the quarter-final round of the UEFA Champions League. In this sense, one of the keys to exploding the Barcelona team is under the three sticks of the rival casting: Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The sporting level of the Italian guardameta, the one who started as a professional very young at the age of 16 with the band of AC Milan, is indisputable. He considers him one of the best archers in Europe because of his performances in the “Rossoneri” combined and in the “Azzurra” where “Gigi” Buffon took the testimony. Nevertheless, although he showed himself to be a contrasting goalkeeper in the 1 draw with PSG, he presented great doubts in European competitionsmoving away from the reliable cancerbero who used to be in most engagements.
Donnarumma’s game with the ball at his feet
One of the points to be explored by FC Barcelona is the pressure on the exit of the Italian guardameta from the back line. He has been shown to not be strong in the game with the feet, as Borja Álvarez, the goalkeeper coach of the Parisian cast, explained. “His game in passing is not much better. We have to stop with that because his problem is the exits”, expressed.
This could be noticed, for example, in the 2-2 billed by Raphinha, where a poor release from Donnarumma trying to send a long pass to an unprotected area resulted in an interception by João Cancel, the one who gave rise to the play that culminated with the annotation of the ’11’. Therefore, pressuring his exit and forcing him to play quickly can be an effective option to hinder the exit from the Parisian table.
The few effective outings for searching for balloons by air
Another important topic to consider are aerial balloons sent to the area. Despite its considerable height, 1.96 meters, in Donnarumma it is expensive for him to go looking for these balloons, especially in the small area, where goalkeepers are used to dominating. Jérome Alonzo, analyst of ‘L’Équipe’ specialized in goalkeepers and exguardameta of PSG, commented that: “The Italians are goalkeepers who don’t go out. We need to break this so the boy can reach the highest level. “He can’t receive a goal like Barcelona’s on Wednesday.”
A clear example of this was seen in the collision between Parisians and culés, in the goal of Andreas Christensen which ended up being the 2-3 and decided the meeting in favor of FC Barcelona. Ilkay Gündoğan sent a cross into the area where Donnarumma did not try to clarify the situation and remained under the three sticks, with little time to react, by what could not do much more to hold back the arrival of the Dane’s head. In these circumstances, it would not be disappointing if the Catalan cast resorted to more sendings into the area and if their scoring chances increased noticeably from corner shots.
