What insult Donnarumma said before saving Vinicius penalty for Manchester City

MADRID, SPAIN – MARCH 11: Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid is fouled by Gianluigi Donnarumma of Manchester City which leads to a penalty to Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 First Leg match between Real Madrid CF and Manchester City FC at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on March 11, 2026 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma confirmed his remarkable record on penalties after parrying the Vinicius Junior effort, but what the Manchester City goalkeeper said before the Real Madrid spot-kick was also indicative.

Tonight’s Champions League Round of 16 tie at the Bernabeu had seen Manchester City go in as favourites, but they found themselves 3-0 down by half-time.

Donnarumma had pulled out of a potential penalty challenge on Federico Valverde on the opening goal, so when Vinicius went clear after the restart, this time he went for the ball.

It proved an incorrect decision, as he caught the player’s ankle instead and gave away the penalty with a yellow card.

Donnarumma duel with Vinicius

Just before the Brazilian stepped up, Donnarumma was caught on camera complaining in Italian, repeatedly saying the same phrase: “Ha fatto il fenomeno.”

This translates in a few different ways, as it can be an expression of being impressed with how ‘phenomenal’ a player is being, but more often it’s sarcastic and a complaint that someone is trying too hard to show off, for example when he’s doing step-overs.

This seemingly played out moments later, because Vinicius took a slow and excessively confident run-up, seeing the penalty parried by Donnarumma.

The 27-year-old was entirely the wrong person to do that against, seeing as Donnarumma has now saved 17 out of the 61 spot-kicks faced in normal time.

Donnarumma denies Viní Jr from the penalty spot ❌@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/HFyGgRNOCp

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 11, 2026

That does not include shoot-outs, which of course is how he helped Italy win the EURO 2020 Final against England.

This time, he might’ve kept City in the tie, as they were already 3-0 down and about to concede a fourth.

Gianluigi Donnarumma keeps Man City in this tie with a huge penalty save ❌ pic.twitter.com/ENgDYzdWFg

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 11, 2026