After starting in Friday's Ligue 1 Uber Eats Round 24 win over Rennes, will Parisian goalkeeper Keylor Navas be the first choice for Mauricio Pochettino against Real Madrid on Tuesday? The answer is clear…
Paris Saint-Germain keeper Keylor Navas was handed some valuable game time ahead of Tuesday's clash with his former club Real Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last 16 tie on Tuesday (21:00). The Costa Rican can look forward to the match at the Parc des Princes with confidence; the win over Rennes was a good game, with a clean sheet, and Keylor Navas knows that he has scored points in the competition with Italian team-mate Gianluigi Donnarumma to turn out between the sticks in this European heavyweight clash.
Alternation
While coach Mauricio Pochettino has always alternated between the two goalkeepers, Keylor Navas's inclusion on Friday has increased his chances of making the starting line-up on Tuesday. This was also the case for the trip to Manchester City on 24 November, when Keylor Navas had started against Nantes a few days earlier. The same rule held true for the trip to Leipzig: prior to that trip, Gianluigi Donnarumma had played against Lille five days before travelling to Germany as a starter.
Navas, 35, who had played for his country against Jamaica on 3 February (a 1-0 win), was left on the bench for Sunday's 5-1 win over Lille, a match that saw Donnarumma turn in a solid performance despite conceding a Sven Botman goal that he came close to saving. Starting against Las Merengues, whom he left in 2019 after three-straight UEFA Champions League titles, would be another sign that Navas is far from having said his last word in the battle he wages daily against the best goalkeeper of the Euro 22, one of PSG's star recruits this summer, who represents the future of the Parisian club at just 22 years old.
Donnarumma: 'A good relationship'
"I'm very happy with the goalkeepers, both Navas and Donnarumma, and we'll decide which of them will play in the next few days," said Mauricio Pochettino in his pre-Rennes press conference last Thursday. The clash with Real will in any case be another chance for the Argentinean's selection choices to be put under a European microscope after six months of alternation between the two world-class 'keepers.
Italy 'keeper Donnarumma was asked to comment on his relationship with his counterpart in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport before the return of the Champions League. How does he feel about competition for the top spot?
"I knew that it would be the case when I came here. I don't know what he thinks, but for me it's fine, especially as everyone here shows me that I'm important," 'Gigio' told the Italian sports daily. "It's not true that there is friction with Keylor sometimes. We have a good relationship, he is a good guy. For me, there is no problem."
>> OPINION: Gianluigi Donnarumma or Keylor Navas, who is better?
