PARIS (AP) — Different goalkeeper, same problem.
Coach Luis Enrique's gamble to drop Gianluigi Donnarumma and replace him with Matvei Safonov for Tuesday's match at Bayern Munich backfired as PSG lost 1-0 in the Champions League.
The defeat was PSG's third in five Champions League games, and the club is in increasing danger of being one of the 12 clubs eliminated after the 36-team league phase in the new format.
There has been wasteful finishing up front as Enrique keeps pointing out. But that does not explain the defeats and the real issue has been big errors by both goalkeepers.
PSG is 26th and still has to face Manchester City.
Going out of such a big group stage — where even Belgian side Club Bruges is ahead of PSG — would set a new low for the cash-rich, Qatari-backed club. PSG's owners, QSI, have spent fortunes trying to turn PSG into a dominant European club.
But since QSI took over 13 years ago, PSG has still not won the competition and reached only one final.
“If we look at the standings, we are worried, that's normal,” PSG captain Marquinhos said after the Bayern loss. “We have three matches left.”
Of the costly goalkeeping errors, four have been made by Donnarumma and one by Safonov, who completely missed the ball when trying to claim a corner against Bayern, allowing the German club an easy goal.
Safonov and Donnarumma are both 25 years old.
That's the only similarity.
Donnarumma is vastly experienced at club and international level, making nearly 400 combined club appearances for AC Milan and PSG and helping Italy win the European Championship three years ago.
Safonov would have been an unfamiliar face to many fans watching the game. The 25-year-old Russian joined PSG in the offseason from Krasnodar for a reported fee of 20 million euros ($21 million) and with scant experience at the highest level.
Enrique said he chose Safonov because of the way Bayern plays with a high pressing game, suggesting that he has a better passing ability than Donnarumma, who struggles to play the ball out accurately from the back.
Safonov's lack of experience ultimately makes his mistake easier to understand, but it also underlines why he is perhaps not yet ready to become PSG's No. 1 goalkeeper.
Donnarumma's continued inability to properly claim corners — a weakness which also led to several goals in last season's Champions League — is more alarming.
Doubts concerning his future at the club are being raised after he was dropped for the biggest game of PSG's season so far. He did not appear too concerned. Cameras showed Donnarumma smiling, legs crossed, as he chatted to a teammate on the bench before the game started.
However, Saturday's French league game against struggling Nantes poses a dilemma for Enrique.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
PSG's head coach Luis Enrique reacts during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bayern and Paris Saint Germain, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024.(AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
PSG's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma warms up during a training session in Munich, Germany, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, ahead of the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bayern and PSG. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
PSG's goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, center, laughs during a training session in Munich, Germany, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, ahead of the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bayern and PSG. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
PSG's head coach Luis Enrique talks to goalkeeper Matvey Safonov during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Toulouse at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:
Schools around the country are preparing for upheaval from President-elect Donald Trump's plans to deport millions of people living in this country illegally. It remains to be seen whether Trump will follow through on the pledge, but some superintendents say the threats could deter immigrants from sending their kids to school either way.
Educators are training staff on how to act in the event of raids and assuring families their kids are safe on campus.
For more than a decade, schools have been largely off-limits for immigration enforcement. In 2011, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement adopted a policy urging agents to avoid arresting immigrants near schools, hospitals, and churches so as not to discourage them from attending to essential parts of life.
The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 has recommended that the next Trump administration rescind the so-called “sensitive locations” policy. Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 during his campaign, but has chosen people who worked on the policy roadmap for his next government, including Tom Homan as “border czar.”
In case schools become a target for arrests of parents or students, some districts are training staff, especially those who control access to the front doors at schools, to block immigration agents from entering without a valid warrant. They are also training school clerks and others to not share student information with agents.
School officials say children can't learn if they're afraid they or their parents will be detained on campus. They also say these practices safeguard immigrant students' right to a free public education.
But not all school districts are eager to speak publicly about these efforts. The Associated Press found some superintendents didn't want to comment on their plans because they fear drawing attention to their immigrant students. Others don't feel support from school boards to take these actions.
Here are some ideas for covering this issue in your area.
READ AP'S STORY
Schools are bracing for upheaval over fear of mass deportations
AVAILABLE DATA
The children most likely to be affected by deportation are U.S. citizens. About 4.4 million U.S.-born children live in the United States with parents who are in the country illegally, according to Pew Research analysis of 2022 Census data. Pew estimated that around 800,000 immigrants under 18 were in the country illegally.
The states with the largest numbers of immigrants living there illegally are California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois.
The numbers of total immigrants who are in the country illegally and therefore vulnerable to Trump's deportation plans could grow under Trump's administration if he follows through on plans to eliminate an immigration benefit held by more than 800,000 people as of late last year.
Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, has been around for decades and extended to foreign nationals leaving troubled countries. Most recently, immigrants coming from Haiti, Venezuela and Cuba have received TPS, but some immigrants have lived in the country with this status for decades. Trump has said he would rescind this policy for at least some immigrants.
Data resources:
— Migration Policy Institute's County and State Dataset: Unauthorized Immigrant Population Profiles
— Migration Policy Institute’s 2023 Factsheet: A Profile of Recent Immigrant Students: A Profile of New Arrivals to U.S. Schools
— U.S. Customs and Immigration Services 2023 Report on TPS: Temporary Protected Status: Calendar Year 2023 Annual Report
WATCH HOW DISTRICTS RESPOND
Some school boards during Trump's first term passed resolutions affirming immigrant students' right to attend school and vowing to stop immigration agents from entering schools. Reporters can observe whether school districts take such public stances under what Trump promises will be a more aggressive immigration crackdown, and whether they seek to train staff on response strategies. They can take note of districts that are reluctant to talk about plans or concerns.
Reporters should also look for enrollment and attendance declines or changes related to deportation threats and actions.
The deportations may embolden some districts that are already making it more difficult for immigrant students to enroll in school. Conservative lawmakers in Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee have questioned whether immigrants without legal residency should have the right to a public education. That could bring challenges to the landmark 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Plyler v. Doe, when justices concluded it was unconstitutional to deny children an education based on their immigration status.
QUESTIONS TO ASK IN YOUR COMMUNITY
— How is the superintendent preparing for potential mass deportations? What are teachers and staff being told they should do if a raid occurs at their school?
— How have school board members described their district's role in protecting immigrant students' right to an education?
— Is there agreement among the district superintendent, the school board and other officials?
— Have students stopped attending school because they fear deportation? What impact does the threat of deportations have on parents’ and students’ outlook on school?
— Has the district created barriers for newcomer students to enroll? Who promoted these barriers and how have educators and community advocates responded?
READ MORE AP COVERAGE
— US law entitles immigrant children to an education. Some conservatives say that should change
— On the streets of a Colorado city, pregnant migrants struggle to survive
— For migrant women who land in Colorado looking for jobs, a common answer emerges: No
The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Localize It is a reporting resource produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org.
FILE - Jefferson County Public Schools buses make their way through the Detrick Bus Compound on the first day of school, Aug. 9, 2023, in Louisville, Ky. (Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal via AP, File)
