The scar on Gianluigi Donnarumma’s face may have only been earned months ago, but it serves as a perfect reminder of how far the Italian goalkeeper has come in only a few short years.
Sometimes you have to get kicked in the mouth if you want to achieve great things.
For Donnarumma, that’s a bit more literal than he surely would have preferred, but it’s also a poignantly figurative metaphor. It wasn’t long ago that the former AC Milan goalkeeper was branded a flop by PSG fans and media, as he fumbled his way through a litany of high-profile errors on the biggest stages.
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Gianluigi Donnarumma’s redemption
Donnarumma joined PSG in 2021 as a 22-year-old, considered a goalkeeping prodigy at an extremely young age. He had already made 215 appearances for AC Milan by that point, breaking into the Italian national team at just 17 years old. For a goalkeeper to set such a record is utterly remarkable, as the position often sees players develop and peak at an advanced age compared to outfield players.
There were bound to be some growing pains as he made the switch to the bright lights of Paris, where success was judged on a much harsher scale. His new club had put together a litany of superstars in an effort to secure a long-coveted first Champions League title, and winning domestic trophies would not be enough to satiate the starved fanbase.
It was rocky at first. Extremely rocky.
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Donnarumma was poor as PSG were eliminated in the Round of 16 by Real Madrid in his first season at the club, falling 3-1 in the second leg in Madrid after winning the first leg 1-0 at home. Donnarumma won the Yashin Trophy that year as best goalkeeper in the world on the heels of Italy’s Euro 2020 title, but it felt as though his performances for PSG were detached from the national team, as if he were a completely different player.
To begin group stage play the following season, Donnarumma made another error as Weston McKennie scored in a 2-1 PSG win over Juventus.
2 – Gianluigi Donnarumma made his second error leading to an opponent’s goal in six Champions League matches for Paris. This is already a record for a PSG player since Opta began analysing this data (2007/08). Mistakes. #PSGJuve #PSGJUV pic.twitter.com/e5n3kXeLLi
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) September 6, 2022
There were rumblings, there were questions, there was doubt. Donnarumma began to find himself lumped in with Messi and Neymar not as saviors but as expensive scapegoats. PSG were bounced in the Round of 16 again by Bayern Munich 3-0 on aggregate. It wasn’t going the way it was supposed to.
PSG barely qualified for the knockout stage in the 2023/24 Champions League, winning just two of their six games in a brutally difficult group that included Newcastle, Borussia Dortmund, and his former club AC Milan. When he visited the San Siro, Donnarumma was showered with fake money by the home fans who sledged him for leaving the club. AC Milan won the match 2-1.
Gianluigi Donnarumma se place dans ses cages, juste devant la Curva Sud. Pluie de faux billets et raz-de-marée d’insultes pour le gardien italien. Le calvaire ne fait que commencer.
– @footmercato pic.twitter.com/dDo5moEiZs
— Valentin Feuillette (@VFeuillette75) November 7, 2023
At a club like PSG where success is an expectation — a baseline — rather than a celebration, mistakes are amplified while heroics are downplayed. For every 10 huge saves Donnarumma made, the one error loomed much larger. While his shot-stopping has always been a strength, the Italian struggled in possession, struggled dealing with crosses, and struggled with positioning, all seemingly at the worst possible moments.
It reached a new low last April when PSG lost 3-2 to Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal, as Donnarumma was partially at fault for all three Barcelona goals. His feeble attempt to claim a Lamine Yamal cross only fed the ball straight to Raphinha for Barca’s first, gave the ball straight to Raphinha for their second, and found himself rooted to the spot as Andreas Christensen headed home a third.
PSG’s second-leg comeback would do little to quiet the noise, especially as they were upset by Dortmund in the semifinals shortly after.
Incredibly, a year later, none of that is on anyone’s mind.
With PSG branded as favorites for the Champions League final against Inter Milan, Donnarumma has been hailed a hero, a key component of this new-look squad bereft of superstars and instead molded to play as greater than the sum of its parts.
As Donnarumma starred against Arsenal in this year’s semifinal, he’s suddenly being hailed as the best goalkeeper in the Champions League this season. He was unbelievable through both legs against the Gunners, saving eight of the nine shots on target he faced, worth a total of 2.86 xGOT prevented. His stops on Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, and Bukayo Saka were all utterly spectacular, displaying hairpin reaction time, electric athleticism, and improved positioning.
🇮🇹🔒 Another flawless goalkeeping performance in the Champions League for PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma (26). pic.twitter.com/4DP8Ro92VI
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) May 7, 2025
There is no doubt that Donnarumma’s performance in Munich on Saturday will be critical to anything PSG achieve in this match. If PSG are to finally get over the proverbial hump on Saturday — if they successfully exorcise their European demons — Donnarumma will have to play hero.
At a club like PSG, nothing has been won just yet, and Donnarumma could easily find himself a zero once again. The margins are thin, but at the moment, the Italian looks to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world, a branding that always felt possible but threatened to slip through his fingers on multiple occasions.
Even if the scars remain, the wounds may heal. For the moment, Donnarumma has Europe at his fingertips, but a win on Saturday would provide the Italian a tonic as medicinal as it would be sweet.
