london: Gianluigi Donnarumma was hailed as a “titan” by Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique after producing some brilliant saves against Arsenal to ensure his team took a lead into the second leg of their Champions League semifinal next week.
The Italian continued his impressive form in the knockout stage by pulling off two one-handed stops low down to his left, first to deny Gabriel Martinelli and then Leandro Trossard, and preserve PSG’s clean sheet in a 1-0 win Tuesday. Ousmane Dembele had scored the goal early into the game.
Previously this campaign, Donnarumma was PSG’s star in a last-16 win over Liverpool with two saves in a penalty shootout at Anfield, while a series of great saves in the second half of the second leg against Aston Villa allowed the French champion to squeeze through the quarterfinals.
Luis Enrique rarely veers away from his praise for the collective but the Spanish coach let that mantra slip a touch after the Arsenal game. “I really want to underline the work of 14 or 15 players,” he said. “…Obviously there were some players that shone a bit more than others and when you’re playing away against a team that’s so good at set pieces, you need a titan in goal.” “We showed the kind of team we are,” Enrique said. “We tried to play our way and scored the goal early playing
the way we play.”