Axel Allag, Media365, published on Sunday November 3, 2024 at 9:05 a.m.
Starting against Lens to everyone's surprise, Matvey Safonov played his fourth match with PSG on Saturday evening (1-0). Enough to shake up the hierarchy of goalkeepers with Gianluigi Donnarumma?
A surprising but justified choice. Saturday evening, against Lens, it was the Russian Matvey Safonov who was lined up in the PSG goals in place of Gianluigi Donnarumma. For the first time, this tenure did not respond to a replacement requirement as was the case earlier this season against Girona in the Champions League (1-1) and Reims (1-1) and Rennes (3-1) in Ligue 1 – the Italian suffered a muscle injury. So, why this start against Lens? Luis Enrique obviously knew what he was doing and explained it in a post-match press conference. “I knew that we would have a lot of difficulty because of Lens' pressure. Very high pressure. Very strong duels where the only free player is the goalkeeper,” said the Asturian.
“Safonov made no mistake”
Recalling that the players must be ready to respond at any time, both the goalkeepers and the field players, he was generally satisfied with the performance of the goalkeeper, who knew how to fulfill his role despite a certain waste in the game at the foot (12 missed passes). “Today (Saturday, editor's note), Safonov gave us a certain superiority. He was very good, I think. It wasn't easy for him either but I am very happy with his performance,” continued Luis Enrique. Explaining that this start was not due to a better kicking game compared to Donarumma, the PSG coach continued his praise afterwards: “Every time the Lens player goes on our goalkeeper, it leaves a free player on the field The majority of the time, we found solutions and, each time, it turned into a scoring opportunity. Safonov made no mistake.
So, now three days before the reception of Atlético de Madrid in the Champions League (Wednesday 9 p.m.), will the hierarchy at the goalkeeper position be shaken up? The very near future will tell but from now on, Donnarumma knows that he could find himself on the bench depending on the opponent present against the capital club.
