Donnarumma's high-ball blunders may cost PSG if French league is close

PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma's weakness under the high ball is increasingly obvious.

Although PSG coach Luis Enrique has not made an issue of it, Donnarumma’s errors may prove costly to them if the French league title race is closer this season. PSG tops the table on goal difference from Monaco ahead of Sunday's trip to face Nice, which scored eight goals in its previous home game.

Donnarumma’s blunders were exposed in Tuesday's 2-0 loss at Arsenal in the Champions League. Although Enrique did not blame him for the goals, the mistakes were evident and worryingly similar to ones last season in Europe's elite competition.

Arsenal’s first goal saw a hesitant Donnarumma beaten as Kai Havertz — hardly the most renowned at headers in world soccer — anticipated a cross from Leandro Trossard and nodded the ball in.

Italy’s No. 1 goalie was beaten again when Bukayo Saka’s low free kick from the right went straight under him. He was not entirely at fault, since his view of the ball may have been obscured, but there seemed to be no talking between Donnarumma and his defenders.

It all looked very familiar.

Last season in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Barcelona, Donnarumma failed to come for a corner and central defender Andreas Christensen headed in the winner. Despite his imposing stature — Donnarumma is 1.96 meters tall — he stood rooted to his line and seemed unsure how to judge the ball's flight.

Earlier in that match, Donnarumma struggled with Lamine Yamal’s cross and Raphinha put Barcelona ahead.

Donnarumma's hesitancy repeated itself in the semifinal return leg against Borussia Dortmund when central defender Mats Hummels rose unchallenged to head in Julian Brandt’s corner from the left — a carbon copy of Christensen's goal.

Donnarumma also made blunders trying to pass the ball out from defense in some Ligue 1 games last season.

On Tuesday night, a few minutes after Arsenal's second goal, television cameras showed him muttering to himself and throwing up a hand in exasperation.

For all of his shot stopping and excellent reflexes on the goal line, the 25-year-old Donnarumma does not appear as strong overall as his PSG predecessor Keylor Navas, who was a more commanding presence in the penalty area.

Despite having just had an outstanding season for PSG, Navas was unceremoniously moved aside when Donnarumma arrived from AC Milan following the 2021 European Championship which Italy won thanks in parts to Donnarumma's penalty-saving exploits.

PSG fans could not understand why the highly regarded Navas was suddenly the designated No. 2 without competition for places.

Donnarumma was brought into the club by PSG's then-sporting director Leonardo. The Brazilian's strong ties with each club as a former player for PSG and Milan helped to facilitate the arrivals of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, star defender Thiago Silva, and Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, his friend.

Donnarumma's arrival was seen as somewhat of a coup, given his young age and reputation. He had long been tipped for stardom after making his debut for Milan at age 16 in 2015.

But Donnarumma’s trajectory is not going the way many observers expected it to.