Featured Image Credit: the_bonnfire X
Topics: Football, Thibaut Courtois, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Jamal Musiala, Injury, Bayern Munich, PSG
Luke Davies
Topics: Football, Thibaut Courtois, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Jamal Musiala, Injury, Bayern Munich, PSG
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has spoken out after Gianluigi Donnarumma’s challenge resulted in Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala sustaining a serious leg injury on Saturday.
Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele’s strikes helped PSG to a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich in the Club World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
However, the match was overshadowed when Musiala tried to beat Donnarumma to the ball before the Italian goalkeeper landed on the German’s leg, causing a serious injury.
Musiala was visibly in pain while Donnarumma appeared to be emotional after seeing the extent of the injury.
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Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany insisted that the incident was an “accident” but opposition ‘keeper Manuel Neuer was not so forgiving.
“[This is] a situation where you don’t have to go in like that; that’s reckless,” Neuer said.
“He accepts the risk of injuring his opponent. I went to him and said: ‘Don’t you want to go to [check on] our player? It’s a question of respect to go over and wish the guy all the best. He did it afterwards. Fairness is always important. I would have reacted differently.”
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Bayern’s sporting director Max Eberl added: “If I jump onto the shin with 100 kilos and sprinting, the risk of something happening is high.
“I don’t think at all that he did it on purpose, but he also didn’t take care.”
However, later on Saturday, Real Madrid’s Courtois leapt to Donnarumma’s defence after his side’s 3-2 win against Borussia Dortmund.
“I was watching it with my father and my son and when he (Musiala) fell, I said, ‘Oh, that’s ugly,’” Courtois said.
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“Blaming Donnarumma seems excessive to me, because in the end we goalkeepers go to the ball, like the strikers go — and when we do, the strikers do not measure if their feet reach our face.
"It’s your team-mate, it hurts more, obviously, and you’re going to criticise (the opponent), but the action is not so avoidable. Donnarumma had to go out there.”
On Sunday morning, The Athletic issued an update on Musiala and explained how he is expected to be out for at least four months with a fractured fibula.