‘IT’S UNFAIR TO BLAME ME OF MUSIALA’S INJURY’, SAYS DONNARUMMA

Story By: Kyei Manu

Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has stressed that it is unfair to blame him for the unfortunate injury to Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala at the Club World Cup.

The UEFA champions league winners, defeated Bayern 2–0 in the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World Cup, but the game was marred by the first-half injury to Musiala, who is expected to miss five months of action with what has been confirmed as an ankle dislocation and fibula fracture.

Howevet, in an interview with Sky Sports Germany, Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, chastised Donnarumma in the aftermath of the game. He accused his opposite number of taking “the risk of injuring Musiala ”.

Meanwhile, responding to the criticism, Donnarumma, who was visibly distraught on the pitch when the extent of Musiala’s injury became obvious, told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “I am very shocked by what happened, it was certainly not my intention to hurt Musiala.”

Donnarumma’s agent, Vincenzo Raiola, on the other hand, took exception to Neuer’s comments and hit back at suggestions that the Italian reaction to the incident was not sufficient.

“It’s a matter of tenths of a second,” Raiola continued. “It only takes a moment for the save to turn into a penalty. Gigio was the first to get to the ball and could no longer avoid the challenge. It’s unfair to think that he wanted to hurt Musiala, who we hope recovers as soon as possible to come back stronger than before.

“He didn’t want to pretend nothing had happened. Gigio is a very sensitive boy. He wouldn’t have been able to stand the scene and preferred to walk away to let the doctors take care of Musiala as best he could. Once in the locker room he even turned on his phone. In all the years we’ve worked together he’s never done that. Usually he turns it off an hour before kick-off to concentrate on the match and turns it back on after the game. This time he sent me a message to tell me he was shaken and that he hadn’t done it on purpose.”

Jamal Musiala is likely to spend more than six month sidelines depending on the extent of his recovery.