Joe Hart has revealed what Gianluigi Donnarumma said to him immediately after Manchester City suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat away at Real Madrid in Champions League Round of 16.
Donnarumma and his teammates now have a mountain to climb next Tuesday in order to secure a place in the quarter-finals after conceding three first-half goals to the sensational Federico Valverde, who scored the first hat-trick of his career at the Bernabeu for the 15-time European champions.
Valverde netted the first of his three goals in the 20th minute after a questionable bit of goalkeeping by Donnarumma, who pulled his hand away from the ball as the Uruguayan midfielder went past him.
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The Cityzens will need a miracle to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals following a humbling defeat in Spain.
Former Man City ‘keeper Hart, who was at Real Madrid’s stadium with TNT Sports, said of the goal, per The Independent: “It’s an incredible first touch from Valverde. So what I’m seeing there from this angle – and look, everyone in hindsight will say, ‘Well, his hands are still in the box’ – but because Donnarumma is committed, he’s coming out at pace, he’s thinking ‘slide tackle out the box’.
“And then as [the ball] goes past him, because he sees himself coming out of the box, he makes a calculated decision to think, ‘you know what, I don’t need to be giving a penalty away or a potential red card here, I’m going to sacrifice the goal’.
“When he sees it back, he knows he can use his hands, but with the way he was attacking that ball, he’s thinking ‘tackle, tackle, tackle out the box, and then he’s not realised that his hands are actually inside the box.”
While Valverde added two more goals to the scoreline before half-time, Donnarumma (widely considered one of the world's best 'keepers) may have kept City in the tie after saving a second-half penalty from Vinicius Jr.
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Gianluigi Donnarumma
No further goals were scored and Donnarumma made his thoughts clear to Hart with a seven-word comment to the former England international after the final whistle. Per the Manchester Evening News, Hart revealed:
“[Donnarumma] said: ‘Let’s go, it’s not over, let’s go', It gave me chills, I love that guy!"
Buoyed by that second-half penalty save, Donnarumma is convinced it’s still all to play for ahead of next week’s second leg at the Etihad Stadium. However, his manager Pep Guardiola spoke with far less confidence after Wednesday’s defeat.
The revered Catalan coach told reporters when asked what chance City have of overturning the deficit: “Now, not much. Of course we’re going to try. Now it’s difficult to lift our mindset, but we’ll be there, we’ll try with our people.