Kylian Mbappe feels sorry for Gianluigi Donnarumma Photograph:( WION )
Speaking after the match which PSG lost 1-2, captain Mbappe said his team attempted to protect Donnarumma but he still felt sorry for him
Kylian Mbappe has criticised AC Milan fans after his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Gianluigi Donnarumma was subjected to intense hostility during the Champions League match at San Siro on Tuesday (Nov 7) night.
Speaking after the match which PSG lost 1-2, captain Mbappe said his team attempted to protect Donnarumma but he still felt sorry for him.
“There was a lot of noise and they gave Gigio quite a difficult reception. I think it was a bit too much, but there you go, that’s football nowadays," Mbappe told the reporters.
“The fans do what they want, we can’t know what they feel inside. We protected Gigio as much as we could, and we feel sorry for him this evening.”
Notably, AC Milan fans jeered and threw fake banknotes over the PSG goalkeeper as a sign of protest after Donarumma left the club as a free agent to join the Parisian giants for a record fee.
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Prior to the match, the club's most die-hard supporters belonging to the Curva Sud group released a statement, letting Donarumma know of their actions.
“For tonight we printed up a million fake banknotes to throw at Donnarumma. If the goalkeeper is under the Curva Sud in the first half, at the 10th minute to mark the 10 million he took to go to Paris, we will throw. If Donnarumma is under the Curva Sud in the second half, it will be just before the game restarts," read the statement.
As it turned out Donarumma was near the Milan fans in the first half and the notes were rained upon him.
The Milan supporters continue to accuse him of ditching his boyhood club, which led to the angered reactions on Tuesday.
Donarumma came through the AC Milan youth academy and featured over 250 times for the red and black before moving to Paris where he is reportedly earning $12 million per year in Paris.
The money collected from selling the fake dollars to mock Donarumma will now go to football schools in Corvetto and Baggio in Milan - so they can buy items such as shoes, balls and shirts.
As for the match, Donarumma was twice beaten in the game as AC Milan raked up their first win of the UCL campaign to climb third in the points table, with two matches to go. Goals from Rafel Leao and Olivier Giroud were enough for Milan after Skriniar gifted the lead to the visitors.
(With inputs from agencies)