PSG, which challenges Benfica Lisbon on its lawn, Wednesday, October 5 for the 3rd day of the Champions League (9 p.m.), is preparing to face the most dangerous team in its group.

Like him, the Portuguese club seems well on its way to reaching the round of 16 of the competition, after winning its first two games, at home against Maccabi Haifa (2-0), and in Turin against Juventus (1-2) .

The leader of the Portuguese championship has shown impressive success at the start of the season, especially in attack, with 35 goals scored in 14 games.

He had even won all his matches, in all competitions, until the draw conceded on Saturday on the ground of Vitoria Guimaraes (0-0).

The Paris defense, which has conceded a goal in each of its two European meetings this season, is warned.

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma can expect much more demand in a molten Estádio da Luz.

👏👏👏 Gianluigi Donnarumma, Best player of the tournament 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹#EURO2020 What do you think of this choice... pic.twitter.com/qNSDllikV9

— UEFA EURO 2024 🇫🇷 (@EURO2024FRA) July 11, 2021

However, the last bastion of the Italian European champions, elected best player of Euro-2020, has been slow to display total serenity since his signing in Paris, in July 2021.

An intermittent solidity

Arrived at PSG to compete with the holder Keylor Navas, he shared the cage with the irreproachable Costa Rican goalkeeper during his first season in Paris, notably in the Champions League.

But more than his reflex stops, it was his air pockets against Real Madrid, during the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League, fatal to PSG, which marked the first year of his Parisian adventure.

Foul or not during his controversial duel against Karim Benzema, the result is the same: his kicking game and the elimination of a PSG yet announced as favorite and almost qualified have caused a lot of ink to flow.  

Since the arrival in the summer of 2022 of coach Christophe Galtier, who designated him number one goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma seems to have turned the page and gained confidence, despite the episode of Keylor Navas' true-false start at Naples.  

In Ligue 1, the former Milanese, elected best goalkeeper of the year 2021, does the job and the Parisian defense is the best in the French championship, tied with that of the Marseille rival (5 goals conceded in 9 games) .  

🏆🧤 Gianluigi Donnarumma wins the Lev Yachine Trophy of 𝒎𝒆𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒍 𝒍'𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆 2021!



Congratulations to the last bastion of @PSG_inside 👏 pic.twitter.com/5QFYr4YhnX

— Ligue 1 Uber Eats (@Ligue1UberEats) November 29, 2021

But his more than hazardous aerial outing against Juve, during his team's first C1 match, revived an opponent then mastered by the Parisian block, and revived the debate on his performance during major matches.  

Despite its aura and its indisputable qualities, this intermittent fragility does not yet convince the Parisian supporters.

“We often forget that Gianluigi is a young goalkeeper. On the goal of Juve, we noted a poor appreciation on his part on the trajectory of the ball but I also remember the two decisive stops, recently pleaded Christophe Galtier, in conference We talked about it together, I prefer to have a goalkeeper who comes out on set pieces. He has the technical quality, he has the 'jump'. I don't want this error to slow him down, "added the Parisian coach.  

Buffon's natural successor

Considered a phenomenon from his professional debut at AC Milan, at the age of 16, he progressed season after season to the point of being designated as the natural successor of the transalpine legend, and former goalkeeper of PSG. , Gianluigi Buffon.  

Despite the pressure of Serie A matches and the Milan derbies, the colossus (1m96, 92kg) from Castellammare di Stabia, his hometown south of Pompeii, quickly proved to live up to the expectations expressed in Italy. .  

Since his arrival, for lack of an opponent, in Ligue 1, capable of heckling the PSG defense for 90 minutes, Gianluigi Donnarumma has not had the opportunity to sign, as he often does in selection, a reference match even to mark the spirits.

And his adventure in the Champions League having come to an end last season, only the European forum can once again offer him the opportunity to demonstrate that he is the goalkeeper he needs to allow PSG to hang this competition on his record. .  

Imperial on his line, his sober and efficient style recalls that of the 2014 world champion Manuel Neuer, the irremovable goalkeeper of Bayern.

Gianluigi Donnarumma does not lack much to rise to the level of the constellation of stars that surround him at PSG.

Something like a series of decisive parries in the face of a raging attack like Benfica's is currently? 

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app