PSG CANNOT BE HAPPY UNTIL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SUCCESS, SAYS DONNARUMMA
Paris Saint-Germain lifted the Ligue 1 title in the 2021-22, but faltered in familiar fashion in the Champions League yet again.
Gianluigi Donnarumma hailed an “amazing and emotional year” after Paris Saint-Germain won the Ligue 1 title, but knows they cannot be “fully satisfied” due to Champions League failure.
Donnarumma was recruited by PSG ahead of the 2021-22 campaign, with Achraf Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, Georginio Wijnaldum and superstar Lionel Messi also arriving in the French capital.
Messi joined forces with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar to form a fearsome frontline, with PSG easing to a record-extending 10th Ligue 1 title, their eighth in the last 10 seasons.
The championship win was also Mauricio Pochettino’s first trophy as a coach, but the former Tottenham boss appears to be heading for the exit door after failing to deliver Champions League success.
Mbappe scored in both legs of the last-16 tie with Real Madrid, but Karim Benzema’s incredible hat-trick inspired a turnaround for Los Blancos, who went on to lift the trophy in May.
Christophe Galtier, Zinedine Zidane and Julen Lopetegui are among the names linked with the potential vacancy.
While Donnarumma reflected gleefully on his first season in Paris, he understands the demands at PSG when it comes to the Champions League.
“Winning ten titles is a special thing. It really is great to be able to win,” the Italy goalkeeper told PSG TV. “As players, we all wanted to go for it, but that was the case for everyone else at the club, too.
“It was our aim to win the title, so it really was an important season. Unfortunately, we got knocked out of the Champions League, but by winning the title, we gave ourselves some consolation, and that made us really happy.
“It was an amazing and emotional year but also a slightly difficult one. After we were knocked out of the Champions League, it was a bit strange. We had trouble digesting it, but we had to accept it.
“We had to move on because we still had the league title to win, and in the end, we managed to react. So, I’d say that the season was positive overall.
“If you put the Champions League to one side, it was a good season, but we can’t be fully satisfied with it, and next year, we’ll try to win as many titles as possible.”
Marseille are the only French side to win the Champions League, back in 1993, while Monaco and PSG are the only other Ligue 1 teams to reach the final of UEFA’s premier club competition.
Barring their 2019-20 final appearance and a semi-final appearance the following season, PSG have failed to pass the Champions League round of 16 in four of the last six campaigns.
That has led to questions over the competition in Ligue 1, but Donnarumma assures the challenge is tougher than critics suggest.
“A lot of people on the outside think that it’s easy to win Ligue 1, but I know that that’s completely untrue,” he added.
“There are some big teams in this league, and there are some really tough places to go here, with hostile crowds and some very competitive sides.
“It really isn’t easy, and you always need to be well-prepared and working at 100 per cent because some games are really difficult.
“If we aren’t at 100 per cent, it gets hard to bring back wins, so we need to play at our best every time.”
