Neuer criticizes Donnarumma after Musiala injury in Bayern loss
Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer criticized his Paris Saint-Germain counterpart Gianluigi Donnarumma after Bayern midfielder Jamal Musiala suffered an apparent serious injury to his left leg in his team’s defeat to PSG on Saturday in the Club World Cup quarterfinals.
Musiala was hurt late in the first half following a 50-50 challenge with PSG goalkeeper Donnarumma.
The Italian goalkeeper walked away with the ball, but kneeled down in horror when he looked back and realized the seriousness of the injury. A stretcher was immediately summoned to take Musiala off the field.
The replay of the gruesome injury was not shown on the big screens at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Bayern Munich sporting director Max Eberl said after the game that Musiala had been taken to hospital.
“A situation where you don’t have to go in like that,” Neuer told reporters of Donnarumma, via Sky Germany. “That’s risky. He’s willing to accept the risk of injuring his opponent.”
“I went up to him and said, ‘Don’t you want to go over to our player?’ It’s only right to go over and wish the guy well. He did that in the end. Fairness is always important … I would have reacted differently.”
Donnarumma later posted a photo on Instagram of himself looking distraught following the injury, along with a message for Musiala that read: “All my prayers and well wishes are with you.”
“It didn’t look good,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said. “If I’m just watching the images, it looked like an ankle injury of some kind, but I’m not going to make a diagnosis here.”
He added: “When I’m sat here next to you now, the thing that gets my blood still boiling at the moment, it’s not the result. I understand this is football, but it’s the fact that it happened to someone that enjoys the game so much, but he’s also very important for us.”
Musiala, a 22-year-old who also plays for Germany’s national team, entered Saturday’s match with three goals in the tournament — one behind Golden Boot leaders Ángel Di María and Marcos Leonardo. His Club World Cup goals brought his tally to 20 this season, including 12 in the Bundesliga and three in the Champions League.
Musiala’s injury came just before halftime. The referee whistled for the break as the midfielder received treatment on the field. Serge Gnabry replaced him in the lineup to begin the second half, with the score 0-0 at that point.
PSG went on to win 2-0, despite being reduced to nine men after late red cards for Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernández, to reach the semifinals.
“We told him he has our support because it’s never easy when this kinds of action ends badly,” said Désiré Doué, the scorer of PSG’s first goal. “It’s also part of football. Now we want everything to go well for Jamal in his rehabilitation.”
Added PSG defender Achraf Hakimi: “First of all, I want to send my support to Musiala. He was a difficult part of the game for us today, and we know this is part of the sport, but we want to send a message of support to him. We support him, and we want to see him back on the pitch soon because he’s a great player.”
Musiala is a rising star, earning Player of the Year for the German national team in 2024. He was also runner-up in 2023 for the Golden Boy award, which is awarded to Europe’s brightest under-21 talent.
Musiala debuted for Bayern Munich in 2020 when he was 17, becoming the team’s youngest-ever player at the time of his debut. In 2022, he became the first teenager to appear for Germany at a World Cup since 1958.
Because of the injury, Bayern might have to start next season without Musiala. The German club lost out on Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz to Liverpool in the transfer market, leaving Bayern short in the attacking midfield position.
“I don’t know, ideas to replace [him] now, Eberl said. “We had a game against PSG, and we had a great game. So we will do our job in the future.”
Information from ESPN’s Lizzy Becherano and The Associated Press was used in this report.
