This week saw the first leg of the Champions League 2024-2025 Round of 16. UEFA then organizes a series of fan votes. Paris Saint-Germain, who beat Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday (0-1, Liverpool/PSG video highlights), did not have a player in contention for the Champions League Player of the Year award. The competition was between Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG’s 26-year-old goalkeeper), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich’s 31-year-old striker), Marco Asensio (29-year-old midfielder/forward on loan to Aston Villa from PSG) and Emre Can (Borussia Dortmund’s 31-year-old midfielder). The PSG goalkeeper prevailed.
Donnarumma seems well deserved after a top-class performance at Anfield. Some try to write him off as an average keeper when he’s a little less fit, but the Italian knows how to remind us that he belongs among the very best.
Notably, both goalkeepers were “Player of the Week” in this double-header (since it was Alisson Becker last week) of the highest calibre.