2023-12-03 17:29:21
The young Spanish goalkeeper from Paris Saint-Germain Arnau Tenas, who played his first minutes as a professional on Sunday against Le Havre (2-0), saved his team on several occasions, and made us forget Gianluigi Donnarumma, sent off at the following a hazardous outing.
At the final whistle, his teammates warmly congratulated him, surrounding him on the pitch, like captain Kylian Mbappé and coach Luis Enrique, who hugged him.
“I am very happy to have been in the goals, thank you to the club, I thought of my father, my brother”, simply reacted Arnau Tenas, who came on after ten minutes.
“For me it’s easy, I always work to be ready, the team gives me confidence to play,” explained the goalkeeper, in French which he perfects during lessons during the week.
Arriving free this summer at the age of 22 from FC Barcelona for three years, the Catalan played his first minutes as a professional, having only known Barça B, in the third Spanish division, between 2019 and 2023
The goalkeeper, who joined the Barça training center at a very young age, is considered by Luis Enrique rather as No. 3 in the hierarchy, behind Donnarumma and Keylor Navas, injured and not included in the squad for the trip to Le Havre.
Despite the context, the former Barcelona player seemed serene, at ease and in no way upset by the event, while he replaced Gigi Donnarumma, author of a poorly controlled exit outside his area in front of Le Havre (10th) .
– Donnarumma, the bad luck –
Paris SG’s Spanish goalkeeper Arnau Tenas during the Ligue 1 match against Le Havre, December 3, 2023 at the Océane stadium in Le Havre. / AFP
Already heavily criticized for his kicking game, notably against Monaco because of a restart error which resulted in a goal last weekend (5-2 victory).
Tuesday against Newcastle, the Italian this time committed a hand fault which led to the opening of the score, by repelling a shot into the feet of Alexander Isak (24th).
Arnau Tenas made seven saves against Le Havre who shot 22 times on goal, the highest total for a goalkeeper entering a match in Ligue 1 since Anthony Maisonnial with St Etienne against Lorient in December 2016, according to statistician Opta.
“Arnau, I know him perfectly, because he went to the final of the Euro U21 with Spain (in 2023). He suits perfectly the idea of football of teams who want to restart from defense, underlined Luis Enrique. He is clearly a top professional, he always trains as if it were the last day of his life.”
While the Parisians, reduced to ten for 80 minutes, suffered from the Le Havre offensives during the second half, Tenas responded (51st, 58th, 64th, 78th), when he was not helped by his defense in particular by Danilo ( 67th).
Lively on his feet, he came out quickly on several occasions (78th) and made two very good saves, including one (51st) on a magnificent half-volley on target.
He was even more impressive when he released a ball that was heading towards the goal (64th), keeping his hand straight and high enough to repel Mohammed Bayo’s shot.
Paris SG Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma (in yellow) leaves the field pushed by his captain Kilian Mbappé, after receiving a red card in Le Havre in Ligue 1 for a dangerous exit, December 3, 2023. / AFP
A quarter of an hour later, he made a double save, going quickly to the ground and then got up very quickly (78th) against Nabil Alioui.
To satisfy the Parisian supporters who had made the trip to Le Havre, the young Spaniard went to offer them his jersey at the end of the match. History of putting them completely in his pocket, while certain media in his country claim that PSG wishes to lend him this winter.
But this performance could encourage PSG to review their plans.
Asked about the subject, Arnau Tenas replied: “I’m thinking about next week’s match and even if I’m very happy at PSG, that’s it. And if they give me matches to play, I’ll play.”
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