Donnarumma: 'Dybala was smart'

By Football Italia staff

Gianluigi Donnarumma reveals Paulo Dybala had a message for him after the fiery Juventus 2-1 Milan match. “I was out of my mind with rage.”

The 18-year-old goalkeeper went back over the extremely tense finale of Milan’s 2-1 defeat in Turin, decided by a controversial Dybala penalty.

“In truth, having seen the incident again and again, you can talk about it as a borderline situation where either decision would not have been scandalous,” Donnarumma said of the handling offence in an interview with GQ.

“However, I got the idea that the Juventus Stadium effectively awarded that penalty, because that crowd and atmosphere put incredible pressure on. The acoustics of the arena were evidently worked out carefully, as the wave of sound that hit you was incredible.”

Donnarumma stormed off insulting the officials and the fans after conceding that penalty, but revealed it wasn’t the end of the night.

“About half-an-hour after the game, Dybala went looking for me in the locker room. He was smart to wait for a while, because at the final whistle I was out of my mind with rage and I don’t know how I would’ve reacted to him approaching me…

“After 30 minutes, I had let off steam and he walked up to me with this likeable smile. He gave me a high five and said: ‘Now we’re at 1-1.’

“Evidently seeing that penalty saved in Doha really stuck with him.”

Donnarumma parried a Dybala spot-kick when Milan beat Juventus for the Italian Super Cup in December.

“I didn’t like the way I lost control that night and I’ve been working on it.”

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