Italy’s captain and Manchester City goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, has shed light on why he held back his arm during Federico Valverde’s initial goal against Real Madrid in their recent Champions League encounter. His immediate thought, he revealed, was “to do as little damage as possible.”
Donnarumma’s club, Manchester City, faced elimination from the Champions League Round of 16 after suffering a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid. The Premier League side lost both legs against the Spanish giants, first 3-0 in Madrid and then 2-1 at home in Manchester.
During the first leg at the Bernabeu, Federico Valverde scored a hat-trick. His opening goal came after a dribble that took him past Donnarumma. The goalkeeper had rushed off his line but notably didn’t touch the ball near the edge of the box, a decision he later explained was driven by the fear of committing a handball outside the penalty area.
Donnarumma’s Post-Match Interview Insight
In a post-match interview with Sky Sport Italia, former Milan and England coach Fabio Capello questioned Donnarumma about this specific moment. Capello asked, “For the first goal you conceded in Madrid, why didn’t you stretch out your hand? Did you think that you were outside the box?”
Donnarumma responded, “It happened so quickly that the first thing I thought was to do as little damage as possible and get out of my way as much as I could. My intention was to move out of the way and not harm the team. Even watching the replay, I saw that the ball was close to my hand, but at normal speed, everything is much harder. The replay indeed confirmed it passed very close to my hand.”
In the same interview, Donnarumma also affirmed that Manchester City would not alter their playing style despite their Champions League exit. He expressed his anticipation for the upcoming “crucial games” with both his club and the Italian national team.
