Did Mohamed Salah truly bamboozle Gigio Donnarumma, leaving him as still as a statue during Liverpool-PSG's Champions League penalty shootout? Many think not, including former footballer Mike Grella. Instead, that moment marked the beginning of a masterstroke from the Italian goalkeeper, bending the rules of probability to his advantage while rattling the opposition's nerves.
Once the target of relentless criticism, with some clamouring for him to be replaced by Russian keeper Safonov, Donnarumma transformed overnight from a goat to a hero of Paris and, intriguingly, all of France. His performance in the crucial return leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Liverpool last week left an indelible mark, especially with his exploits during the penalty shootout that secured PSG’s progression to the quarter-finals under Luis Enrique’s leadership. Following the final whistle, which saw a 1-0 draw that restored parity from the first leg, Donnarumma dashed to the dressing room at Anfield to go over “some things I had prepared with my goalkeeping coach.” He ended up saving two of the three penalties taken by the Reds (from Nunez and Jones), only conceding Salah's first penalty—standing rooted to the spot, seemingly a passive spectator. Was it Salah’s skill that fooled Donnarumma, or was the keeper employing a brilliant strategy right then, playing a mental game?
Mike Grella pulled back the curtain on Donnarumma's tactics, suggesting that the Italian just might have played a psychological gambit. “I’m not sure if Donnarumma watched Salah and thought, ‘Right, aim for the middle,’ which is why he stood still, or if he meant to stay put to bait the others into thinking he wouldn't move for subsequent penalties,” remarked Grella, who is now a pundit for CBS Sports Golazo, a show keenly following the Champions League.
This second interpretation posits that Donnarumma's apparent nonchalance was a calculated move, tricking Liverpool's penalty takers into believing he had “bet” that one of them would strike straight down the middle. If the Reds fell for this psychological ploy, they might have opted for angled shots, presuming Donnarumma would remain stationary. This mental game—here is where the maths kicks in—would shift the odds from a 33/33/33 split to a 50/50 scenario, narrowing Donnarumma’s options to diving left or right.
Why did Donnarumma sprint to the changing rooms just before the shootout? “I had prepared something,” he noted. And it worked out as planned, whether it was all down to his “mind games” or mere chance: first, Darwin Nunez struck to Donnarumma’s left, then Curtis Jones to his right. On both occasions, the lad from Castellammare guessed correctly and dove justly. The Parisian shooters—Vitinha, Ramos, Dembélé, and Doucouré—kept their nerves, converting their penalties, leading to Liverpool's exit and PSG facing Aston Villa in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
- Resource: https://www.fanpage.it/sport/calcio/perche-donnarumma-non-ha-neanche-provato-a-parare-il-primo-rigore-di-salah-una-tattica-geniale/ 
