From Madrid to Palermo, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Marco Verratti saw their two biggest goals of the year disappear in 15 days.
On March 9, PSG scuttled against Real Madrid in the Champions League (3-1), conceding a hat-trick from Karim Benzema in just over a quarter of an hour.
Thursday evening, the Italian team saw its dreams of reaching the World Cup vanish on a stab signed Aleksandar Trajkovski in stoppage time, against the modest North Macedonia (0-1).
“
It's not fair but Macedonia didn't steal anything.
We are the ones who got lost on the way
,” summarized in the columns of the
Gazzetta dello Sport
, the pink-paged daily having turned against “its” Nazionale after this elimination, like the
To discover
Calendar and results Ligue 1
League 1 standings
Especially since the Squadra Azzurra, already offside for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, had great ambitions in Qatar after their title of European champion last summer.
A coronation in the form of a renaissance, it was believed, with an Italy that could count on experienced executives (Verratti, Insigne, Immobile, Jorginho, Chiellini, Bonucci…) and a golden generation to ensure the future (Donnarumma, Barella, Chiesa , Locatelli, Bastoni, Zaniolo…) around Roberto Mancini.
“
We have solid foundations even if we will have to suffer because nothing is ever guaranteed.
Our goal is to win the World Cup.
But for that, we must first win these two matches
“, Dropped the Italian coach before this semi-final of the play-offs for the 2022 World Cup against North Macedonia, already planning a possible final against Portugal or Turkey next Tuesday.
The rest, we know it: Italy sank, while Portugal passed (3-1) on Thursday.
Donnarumma is no longer himself.
Gazzetta dello Sport
“
We are destroyed
,” acknowledged Giorgio Chiellini.
And this is probably even more the case for the two Parisians of this Italian selection KO standing after this earthquake.
Especially since Donnarumma, brilliant at Euro 2020 and voted best player and best goalkeeper of the tournament, is not exempt from any reproach on the goal of the ex-Palermitan Trajkovski, he who had nothing to do forward in this game in attack-defense form.
Read also“In hell”, “a tragedy”, “lost in the desert”: the press review after the elimination of Italy
Admittedly, the three Italian defenders who surrounded the Macedonian striker shone with their wait-and-see attitude on this one, they are the real “culprits”.
Admittedly, his strike is dry, powerful and perfectly placed to find the opposite side netting.
But as described by
La Repubblica
, the PSG doorman is at the very least "
distracted
", even if it is "
difficult to overwhelm him
", analyze our colleagues.
We actually have the feeling that he takes too long to react and relax.
“
For 85 minutes he cheered from a distance, the ball having always traveled far from his area.
And when he has to start suddenly, because a very angular shot from Trajkovski comes out of nowhere, he hasn't even finished the run-in
“, we squeak on the site of
Sky
.
“
He will be unlucky, but you can't concede a goal like that
”, we add in the columns of the
Gazzetta
, going so far as to say that “
Donnarumma is no longer himself.
He will only remain a starter (in selection) if he becomes Donnarumma again
”.
Obviously, Gigio is not the only one to take the fare in the Italian media or on social networks in the aftermath of this earthquake.
The attackers lined up Thursday night in Palermo were not spared, for example, like Lorenzo Insigne, “
ready for Canada
” according to the
GdS
.
Which Insigne has already signed in Toronto.
Author of a coherent match, Verratti is one of the few to stand out.
"
Everything goes through him, but he can't do anything if panic reigns around him.
He deserved the final.
And he deserves to stay
, ”judges the
Gazzetta
.
Verratti in tears
Praise that will not be enough to console the “Little Owl”, in tears Thursday evening.
“
It's really very hard to accept a defeat like that.
You deserve our apologies
, ”he said two weeks ago, after leaving the track against Real.
No time to recover that he is already plunged back into the abyss.
“
It's a game we had to win, there's nothing else to say.
And taking this goal two minutes from the end was a nightmare.
It's like that, in football, in knockout matches, you have to know how to score
, "Plamented Verratti Thursday evening, after this Macedonian hold-up which will mark a milestone in the history of Italian football, perhaps even more so. than the French debacle against Bulgaria in 1993, at the Parc des Princes.
Read alsoTops / Flops Italy-North Macedonia: Trajkovski for history, Berardi misses the mark
A Park that Verratti and Donnarumma will find in just over a week, on April 3, for the first of PSG's last nine matches in 2021-22 against FC Lorient.
And they will certainly not find a haven of peace there given the degree of anger of the Parisian Ultras after Real Madrid…
One more test for Marco Verratti, who has already seen others, whether in selection, especially in 2017 and this barrage lost against Sweden, or in Paris, against Barcelona and Manchester United in C1, before Real.
From the height of his 23 years, Gianluigi Donnarumma, he navigates in unknown territory.
His ability to rebound will be judged in this event, he who was already involved in the equalizing goal of Benzema in Madrid.
The referee of the meeting could / should have whistled a foul from the Frenchman, as the Parisians did not fail to point out at the Bernabeu.
But we still wonder what the former AC Milan was waiting for to clear the ball… “
Fault?
No, not at all, I urge him, he waits and then he simply loses the ball,
”corrected Karim Benzema.
It is from these difficult times that we emerge stronger.
Gianluigi Donnarumma after elimination in C1 with Paris
Remember that Donnarumma remained on six goals conceded in two matches, between Madrid and this parody match in Monaco (3-0), he who had nevertheless shone since the start of the season, despite alternating with Keylor Navas.
"
They had as many good matches as each other, but on the facts, the two-three matches at the average, or below the average, are more at Navas than at Donnarumma
", analyzed the former goalkeeper of PSG Jérôme Alonzo for
Le Parisien
, before the return match of C1 against Real Madrid in Spain.
And to add: "
I would find it very unfair that Navas does not play in Madrid
".
This is however the choice made by Mauricio Pochettino, with the consequences that we know… Mancini, he had swept all this out of hand, assuring before Italy-Macedonia that he was “
absolutely not worried
about his 23-year-old giant (1.96m) in goal.
"
It's always better to have him with us than against us
," he continued.
“
The elimination from the Champions League was a blow.
The last two days have not been easy, but it is from these difficult moments that we come out stronger
, "confided Donnarumma after Madrid, assuring that we had to"
think about the present, to win Ligue 1, to give everything for this jersey, this club and our supporters
”.
Bis repetita… One thing is certain: the end of the season will be long for everyone at PSG.
And perhaps even more for Gianluigi Donnarumma and Marco Verratti after this new disaster in the selection...