Story perspectives

Maresca Defends Donnarumma After Conceding to Villa, PSG

By Drooid · Oct 27, 2026, 23:49 UTC · How we work

Read the story

Story summary

Summary

Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca defended Gianluigi Donnarumma after he conceded goals to Aston Villa and PSG.
Maresca gave Gianluigi Donnarumma, Erling Haaland, Rúben Dias, Anderson and Joško Gvardiol three days off before the Carabao Cup.
Second-choice goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli will start the Carabao Cup match against Brighton.
Maresca expects Gianluigi Donnarumma to return for Saturday’s Premier League game versus Brighton.

History

In 2004 José Mourinho promoted Petr Cech to Chelsea’s starting role after Carlo Cudicini’s injury; Cech then set a Premier League record of 1,025 minutes without conceding and kept 24 clean sheets in 2004-05. The manager’s public defence of Cech mirrors later squad-rotation tactics, such as Enzo Maresca shielding Gianluigi Donnarumma for Manchester City.

1 of 2

Historical Context

In 2004 José Mourinho promoted Petr Cech to Chelsea’s starting role after Carlo Cudicini’s injury; Cech then set a Premier League record of 1,025 minutes without conceding and kept 24 clean sheets in 2004-05. The manager’s public defence of Cech mirrors later squad-rotation tactics, such as Enzo Maresca shielding Gianluigi Donnarumma for Manchester City.

1 / 2