Gianluigi Donnarumma Breaks Silence on Jamal Musiala Injury After Manuel Neuer Criticism | OneFootball

Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has insisted it is unfair to blame him for injuring Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala at the Club World Cup.

PSG ultimately saw off Bayern 2–0 in the quarterfinals, but the game was marred by the first-half injury to Musiala, who is expected to miss five months of action with what has been confirmed as an ankle dislocation and fibula fracture.

Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer slammed Donnarumma in the aftermath. The Italian’s attempt to smother the ball did not sit well with Neuer, who accused his opposite number of taking “the risk of injuring his opponent” in an interview with Sky Sports Germany.

Responding to the criticism, Donnarumma, who was visibly distraught on the pitch when the extent of Musiala’s injury became apparent, told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “I am very shocked by what happened, it was certainly not my intention to hurt Musiala.”

Donnarumma’s agent, Vincenzo Raiola, took exception to Neuer’s comments and hit back at suggestions that the PSG stopper’s reaction to the incident was not sufficient.

“It’s a matter of tenths of a second,” Raiola continued. “It only takes a moment for the save to turn into a penalty. Gigio was the first to get to the ball and could no longer avoid the challenge. It’s unfair to think that he wanted to hurt Musiala, who we hope recovers as soon as possible to come back stronger than before.

Donnarumma teared up on the pitch. / IMAGO/Xinhua

“He didn’t want to pretend nothing had happened. Gigio is a very sensitive boy. He wouldn’t have been able to stand the scene and preferred to walk away to let the doctors take care of Musiala as best he could. Once in the locker room he even turned on his phone. In all the years we’ve worked together he’s never done that. Usually he turns it off an hour before kick-off to concentrate on the match and turns it back on after the game. This time he sent me a message to tell me he was shaken and that he hadn’t done it on purpose.”

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois weighed in on the situation, defending Donnarumma and suggesting Neuer’s frustrations stemmed more from disappointment over seeing a teammate injured.

“Blaming Donnarumma for Musiala’s injury seems excessive to me,” Courtois said. “Goalkeepers go for the ball. Forwards don’t hold back when they get in our way either. It’s bad luck. It will hurt him more because he’s on his team, but Donnarumma isn’t to blame.”

That support for Donnarumma was well-received by agent Raiola.

“In reality, I understand Neuer,” he concluded. “As Courtois says, it’s normal for him to defend his teammate. And he’s also right when he says that you can behave differently. It’s true but we are all different and everyone behaves as they can.

“It was an episode of play in the eternal duel between goalkeepers and forwards. In December, Gigio almost lost an eye in a clash with a Monaco player. And Neuer also punched [Gonzalo] Higuaín in 2014, in a match between national teams. Then he apologized even if he admitted that he wanted to avert a danger for his team, knowing that he risked hurting the opponent.”