Manchester City need a big result against Real Madrid to remain in the Champions League and Gianluigi Donnarumma understands how important the fans will be to his team.
Despite Wednesday being a dreadful night for Manchester City, there was one positive to take from the occasion.
The referee blew his whistle to end the match and Man City’s supporters stood and applauded their team. They were not shouting or dishing out abuse. Instead, they got behind the players and showed their appreciation.
This shows just how important the fans are to Pep Guardiola and his squad, which will be the case again next Tuesday.
Man City require a big comeback against Real Madrid and they will need everyone at the Etihad to get behind the hosts.
Gianluigi Donnarumma explains the importance of Man City’s fans
There is no getting away from the fact that Man City were really poor at the Bernabeu and Gianluigi Donnarumma is not looking to make any excuses.
The Italian actually thinks City have a chance to go through to the quarter-finals, but this is only possible with the full backing of the supporters.
He told Sky Sports Italy: “We have to play completely different in the return leg. I’m disappointed because we lost badly, but we’re playing at home and hope to turn the situation around.
“With our fans, it’ll definitely be different. They have to give us an unprecedented boost, but they’ll definitely do it, they’re special.”
Donnarumma will be hoping for a better performance at the Etihad Stadium
If Man City are to have any chance of getting past Real Madrid, keeping a clean sheet will be crucial. Donnarumma is usually a reliable man between the posts, but he will be disappointed by how easily Federico Valverde glided around him for Madrid’s opening goal.
In fairness, there was not much the shot-stopper could have done about the other two and Donnarumma did save Vinicius’ penalty to essentially keep his team in the tie.
He will need to repeat his second half heroics, while hoping that the players at the other end of the pitch do their jobs too.
