In the wake of his nightmare showing against Juventus in the Coppa Italia, AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has been comforted by many within the club.
The teenager had an eventful night at the Stadio Olimpico as he caught the attention with two particularly outstanding saves to deny Paulo Dybala a goal.
However, he also made two glaring mistakes to allow Douglas Costa and Medhi Benatia to find the back of the net in the Bianconeri’s 4-0 win.
Upon the team’s return to Malpensa Airport on Thursday morning from Rome, the disconsolate goalkeeper was spotted in an exchange with Marco Fassone.
The two shared a warm handshake, followed by a pat on the back for the player and a short chat in which both seemed to be in good spirits in the wake of the previous night’s frustrations.
It isn’t just those at boardroom level who have attempted to lift the Milan youth product’s spirits, with his teammates also taking it in turns trying to cheer him up, both last night at the stadium and hotel and in the plane on the way home, where he was sat beside his brother Antonio.
Gennaro Gattuso also gave a passionate defence of his goalkeeper in the press conference after the game, insisting that the blame could not be laid at his door for the defeat.
