The Ballon d’Or typically neglects goalkeepers. In fact, you have to go all the way back to Lev Yashin in 1963 for the last time a No. 1 picked up the trophy.
So, Gianluigi Donnarumma landing 10th in the voting might even be considered ambitious with that being the case.
However, the Italy international has been colossal this season, helping PSG on the way to a historic quadruple of Ligue 1, Coupe de France, Trophée des Champions and, of course, the Champions League. It was in that latter competition where he was truly formidable, though.
The 26-year-old was the saviour in the round-of-16 penalty shootout against Liverpool, saving two of the Reds’ three penalties to take the pressure off his side’s takers.
He also came up with some huge saves in the other knockout fixtures on PSG’s run to their first European Cup, and he kept a clean sheet in the final—although he was a spectator for a lot of the game.
Donnarumma’s mastery of football’s “dark arts,” intentionally slowing the game down and running down the clock when his team needed it, also helped PSG get through some tricky knockout fixtures and eventually win the top prize.
His rise into the top 10 is warranted, but he won’t get much higher than 10th in the voting.
