Despite being culpable for two goals, Gianluigi Donnarumma wasn’t singled out by AC Milan boss Gennaro Gattuso following their 4-0 defeat to Juventus in the Coppa Italia final.
Juventus bagged three goals in eight minutes, with Donnarumma was certainly to blame for the Bianconeri’s second and third, as Douglas Costa forced a mistake from the young Milan goalkeeper and another error from Donnarumma allowed Benatia to steal the ball three yards out and smash into the top corner.
To add insult to injury, Nikola Kalinic, who as scored just five goals all season, headed into his own net.
“I question myself every day,” Gattuso told the press. “I know that I am being judged for what I am doing each day, the duration of my contract is not important, but we need to understand who we are now, we need to think about the next 180 minutes, because the repercussions of this defeat may be hard.
“At the moment I can’t explain what happened to Donnarumma. We all make mistakes and today we can’t judge Donnarumma. Tonight, everyone lost.
When asked about summer additions, Gattuso was clear as to the number of players he needs.
“This is a team that has a lot of good, young players who need time and experience to become better,” the Milan coach went on. “After that we need three or four quality players who are mentally strong in order to give this team a leap in quality.
“Now I have an important job in terms of the players’ mentality, and it is also important to get the most out of these players for the last two games.
“It won’t be easy to play against Atalanta and Fiorentina, who are among the fittest teams in Serie A.
“This defeat will burn, not only me but the millions of Rossoneri fans.
“It was an open match and we played well, then made some mistakes, but 4-0 isn’t a result which tells the real story of the game.
“Juventus have more experience and stronger players than we do, that is a fact. I blame my players.
“Experience in sport isn’t bought at the supermarket, it comes with playing a lot of games.
“We had a lot of youngsters on the pitch, and that showed. It wasn’t Donnarumma’s mistakes which led to the defeat, we all lost together.”
