Neuer criticizes Donnarumma after Musiala injury in Bayern vs PSG match

Neuer criticizes Donnarumma after Musiala’s injury

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer expressed his criticism towards his Paris Saint-Germain counterpart, Gianluigi Donnarumma, after Bayern midfielder Jamal Musiala suffered an apparent serious injury to his left leg during the Club World Cup quarter-final match. Musiala was injured near the end of the first half, after a dispute with Donnarumma. The Italian goalkeeper retreated with the ball, but knelt down when he realized the severity of the injury. A stretcher was immediately requested to take Musiala off the field. Max Eberl, sporting director of Bayern Munich, reported that Musiala was taken to the hospital.

“A situation where it is not necessary to go in like that,” Neuer declared about Donnarumma. “It’s risky. He is willing to take the risk of injuring his opponent.”

Manuel Neuer

Neuer added: “I approached him and said: ‘Don’t you want to go see our player?’. It’s the right thing to do, to go and wish him the best. In the end he did it. Sportsmanship is always important… I would have reacted differently.” Donnarumma posted a photo on Instagram where he was seen distressed after the injury, along with a message for Musiala that said: “All my prayers and good wishes are with you.” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany commented: “It didn’t look good. If I only see the images, it looked like an ankle injury, but I’m not going to make a diagnosis here.” Kompany added: “What still boils my blood at this moment is not the result. I understand that this is football, but it’s the fact that it happened to someone who enjoys the game so much, but who is also very important to us.” Musiala, 22 years old, who also plays for the German national team, came into the match with three goals in the tournament, one less than the Golden Boot leaders, Ángel Di María and Marcos Leonardo. His goals in the Club World Cup raised his tally to 20 this season, including 12 in the Bundesliga and three in the Champions League.

Jamal Musiala was injured during Bayern Munich’s match against PSG in the Club World Cup.Musiala’s injury occurred just before halftime. The referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half while the midfielder was receiving treatment on the field. Serge Gnabry replaced him in the lineup at the start of the second half, with the score 0-0 at that moment. PSG finally won 2-0, despite being left with nine players after late red cards to Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernández, to reach the semi-finals. “We told him he has our support because it’s never easy when these types of actions end badly,” said Désiré Doué, the scorer of PSG’s first goal. “It’s also part of football. Now we want everything to go well for Jamal in his rehabilitation.” Achraf Hakimi, PSG defender, added: “First of all, I want to send my support to Musiala. It was a difficult part of the game for us today, and we know this is part of the sport, but we want to send him a message of support. We support him and want to see him back on the field soon because he is a great player.” Musiala is a rising star, winning the German national team’s Player of the Year award in 2024. He was also a runner-up in 2023 for the Golden Boy award, which is given to Europe’s most promising under-21 talent. Musiala debuted with Bayern Munich in 2020, at 17 years old, becoming the youngest player on the team at the time of his debut. In 2022, he became the first teenager to appear with Germany in a World Cup since 1958. Due to the injury, Bayern might have to start next season without Musiala. The German club missed the opportunity to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in the transfer market, leaving Bayern with a shortage in the attacking midfielder position. “I don’t know, ideas to replace him now,” Eberl said. “We had a game against PSG, and we had a great game. So we will do our job in the future.”