Safonov, Vladimir: how did our goalkeeper beat Donnarumma

Matvey Safonov won Ligue 1 with PSG for the second time in his career. In the championship match with Lance (2-0), the Russian was on top — he made eight saves and became the best player of the meeting. No one guarantees the Russian goalkeeper a place for next season, so the last and perhaps the most important test awaits him on May 30 in Budapest, where his team will play Arsenal in the Champions League final. Well, now that PSG has already become the best team in France, no one prevents us from comparing Safonov's current season with Gianluigi Donnarumma's last Parisian year.

Reflection of blows

PSG goalkeepers have been talked about for years, but this season they have become especially popular. The young Luc Chevalier, who was bought for €40 million, instead of going to the World Cup in the status of number one and a solid place at the start of the country's strongest club, is languishing on the bench and reading the news about a possible departure. And Matvey Safonov, the one who was hired purely for the role of understudy, suddenly found himself in the role of one of the main actors of the campaign that led PSG to the second consecutive Champions League final. Many Parisian fans have already forgotten about Matthew's predecessor, European champion Gianluigi Donnarumma, who left for Manchester City in the summer of 2025.

Despite the fact that the Italian finished ninth in the Ballon d'Or last year, his season turned out to be mixed. In the Champions League playoffs, Gianluigi shone and produced several miracle matches, but in Ligue 1 there were many questions about him. First of all, because of concentration.

Sometimes Donnarumma missed in games where it was absolutely unnecessary to do so, and the percentage of matches at zero simply screamed that something was wrong. 16.7% is one of the worst figures in the last French championship draw. And the average of one goal conceded per game is weak for the PSG level, which is at least a cut above any competitor in the domestic arena. Safonov has the best record this season in terms of the percentage of "crackers" (57.1%). By the way, his colleague Chevalier is in second place (52.9%). Then there is the abyss, with Berke Ozero, the third—placed Turk from Lille, with 41.9%.

In terms of deflecting blows, Safonov and Donnarumma have generally comparable statistics — one cannot say that either of them has a clear advantage here. However, the Russian had to enter the game more often, and at the same time he conceded less on average: 0.84 goals per match against Donnarumma's one. The average difficulty of shots on goal was almost the same — 0.11 xG per shot for Safonov versus 0.10 for the Italian. So the minimum advantage in this component still remains with Matthew.

But in terms of securing defenders, Safonov has a clear advantage — he was four times more active in the game outside the penalty area. Therefore, one can understand Luis Enrique, who, after Donnarumma's departure, said that he needed a goalkeeper of a different profile. But we'll analyze the kicking game in more detail later.

It's no secret that Donnarumma showed his best version in the Champions League, so it makes sense to compare the goalkeepers in this tournament separately. In terms of the percentage of matches to zero, Safonov and Donnarumma performed the same way — both kept the goal "dry" in 40% of meetings. But in terms of the average number of goals conceded, the advantage was already on the Italian's side: Donnarumma conceded 0.86 goals per match, while Safonov conceded 1.13. In addition, Gianluigi averaged more difficult shots: he averaged 1.47 goals against 1.41 for the Russian. However, Safonov's statistics were seriously affected by the already historic match with Bayern Munich in Paris, where he had to get the ball out of the net four times.

Overall, in terms of the quality of deflection, there is parity again and Safonov's clear advantage in terms of safety (0.75 and 0.37). PSG is now really not afraid to play with a high defensive line, Matvey is good in this regard and fits well into Enrique's tactical vision.

Kicking game

And now to one of the most interesting points. Luis Enrique almost said in plain text that Donnarumma does not play well enough with his feet. This is Gigi's long-standing problem, which he has compensated for throughout his career with incredible skill on the "ribbon". But Safonov is not inferior to the Parisian version of the Italian this season, but he is superior in an important component for PSG.

Digitizing the quality of a goalkeeper's kicking game is difficult, as there are a lot of nuances. For example, Parisians often used Gonzalo Ramos as a "pillar" last season, and Donnarumma found him with long passes, which is reflected in statistics on progressive passes and the percentage of accurate shots from the goal.

Now the configuration is slightly different. After the Champions League semifinals with Bayern, many argued about whether Safonov hit the outs on purpose to press Olise. Apparently, this is just a theory, since Matvey was rather aiming the ball at a certain point near the edge, where Hvicha or Fabian Ruiz were supposed to compete "on the second floor." The zone is peculiar, the ball can easily fly out of the field from here. But, apparently, this was what Enrique was counting on to overcome the Munich pressure — even if he fails to catch on and the ball goes to the opponent, it will happen in a safe area, from where it is almost impossible to develop a quick attack.

In general, Donnarumma has even more pleasant figures in terms of playing with his feet, but here you need to take into account that Safonov is acting more riskily, and therefore the percentage of marriage is higher. In any case, Enrique notes that he is satisfied with the Russian in this matter.:

— Safonov has all the physical and technical qualities to be a top goalkeeper in modern football. He has the ability to play with his feet, we like that," the Spanish specialist said at a recent press conference.

Matvey feels more confident when playing on the exits. Not to say that it's perfect, there are those who do it by reference, but against the background of Donnarumma regularly sticking to the ribbon, it looks solid.

Results

If we take the overall performance of Safonov and Donnarumma in all tournaments, we get an interesting picture: Matvey is better in most indicators. The Russian deflected and fixed the ball a little more often, the Italian made saves (that is, he hit really difficult balls). Donnarumma conceded often, but very rarely more than one goal per game. Safonov, on the contrary, has unsuccessful meetings, but in general his percentage of "crackers" is much better than Gianluigi's.

And, perhaps, the most important difference is the game outside the penalty area. Safonov insures partners many times more often, and this is especially appreciated by Luis Enrique. And then there's such a thing as confidence. In France, they write that there are questions about Matthew in terms of goalkeeping technique, but he compensates for this with reaction and mental preparation. Russians very rarely "swim" under pressure and instill confidence in their defense.

"We talk a lot about defenders, especially Pacho and Marquinhos, but having a goalkeeper like that behind them makes them better," former PSG goalkeeper Jerome Alonzo told Izvestia. — Safonov is one of those guys who won't flinch, he's incredible in the psychological aspect. When you have such psychological support, you can be sure that the whole team will become better.

It is definitely impossible to downplay Donnarumma's achievements at the last Paris stage — he was nominated for the Golden Ball for a reason. But this is a reason to be proud of Safonov, who performs clearly no worse than that version of Gianluigi. For now, it remains for him to properly prepare for the most important match against Arsenal. Well, you definitely can't relax, with such a level of competition, any unsuccessful stretch can lead to a bench.