DEBATE – Between the French striker and the Italian goalkeeper, the two PSG players will be particularly scrutinized against Dortmund in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League. For various reasons.
Why Kylian Mbappé has the most to lose
Let’s make things clear from the outset. The idea is not to question the talent or effectiveness of Kylian Mbappé. Author of a double in the quarter-final return against Barcelona, the PSG star did the job. Like it should be. And he presents himself on Wednesday in Dortmund as the firefighter on duty, ready to put out the flames emanating from the Yellow Wall. But if the current top scorer in the Champions League this season (8 goals compared to 7 for Harry Kane, his runner-up) has something “to lose” for this first round which should send the Parisians to the final, that is the theme of the Ballon d’Or that must be mentioned. Widely in the race today, even leader of a troop of hungry people made up of Kane, Bellingham, Vinicius, Haaland or even Wirtz, De Bruyne or Foden, the native of Paris has the opportunity to dream of scoring a little more the spirits. Voters from all over the world will follow the C1 semi-finals, minus the Coupe de France final or a PSG-Strasbourg match.
Read alsoMbappé declares his love for PSG: “I am proud to be here since the first day”
With high-level performances in the C1 semi-final, the sounding board would already be far greater than the goals (26) he has scored this season in Ligue 1, a championship little watched by all the Ballon d’Or jurors compared to the Premier League, or even La Liga and Bundesliga. Still in the race for a historic quadruple (L1, Champions Trophy, Coupe de France and Champions League), Kylian Mbappé knows he is facing one of the biggest challenges of his career. Lift PSG to the roof of Europe before joining Madrid. In the process, the showcase of the Euro (June 14-July 14) could also send it to another dimension in the event of a coronation with the Blues. What Kane, Bellingham, Foden with England or De Bruyne with Belgium also dream of. Everything is at stake now. Only the strongest will remain alive. The price to pay to win the Ballon d’Or. (B.D)
SEE ALSO – Kylian Mbappé’s double during Lorient-PSG on April 24 (1-4)
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Why Gianluigi Donnarumma has the most to lose
Kylian Mbappé, we know. The boy has nothing to prove. We are waiting to see if Ousmane Dembélé can continue his momentum, if Bradley Barcola continues his rise, if Vitinha is really more valuable than Marco Verratti was or even if Marquinhos can regain his true level over time. But if there is one Parisian who passes a big test during this double confrontation, and overall at the end of the season, it is Gigio Donnarumma. Imperial in the championship, the 25-year-old Italian international goalkeeper (61 caps) has shown progress since the start of the season. Mentally, for example, he held his own in Milan, in a context that was stormy to say the least.
However, the 2021 European champion has the greatest difficulty in regularly masking his deficiencies in C1, kicking, aerial output. Always brilliant on his line, Donnarumma is clearly not as reassuring in the European Cup. So much so that he leads “a double life”, as described by the Spanish daily AS , our Spanish colleagues noting that the person concerned is also the goalkeeper who has avoided the most goals in L1 (15.46 in 25 matches), far ahead of the last Lens bulwark Brice Samba (8.03). In C1, he is only sixth in this area with 2.67 in 10 appearances. Four saves per match in L1, 3.3 in “Champions”. No stranger to the 2-3 defeat against Barça in the previous round, Gigio Donnarumma never really made Keylor Navas forget. He has a lot to play in the rest of this European campaign, in order to show that he is really the goalkeeper who can allow PSG to dream bigger. Otherwise, could the capital club look elsewhere? For a goalkeeper, the credibility and trust he conveys are essential elements. It’s up to him to score points in this area. (C.R.)
