Meet Mike Maignan, Milan's goalkeeper who left the pitch after receiving racist insults - Sportingbet

Author: Vitória Correa

Website: Sportingbet

Original: https://www.sportingbet.bet.br/pt-br/blog/futebol/saiba-quem-e-mike-maignan-goleiro-do-milan/

Meet Mike Maignan, Milan's goalkeeper who left the pitch after receiving racist insults

The 2023–24 European season came to an end recently, also ending a calendar involving episodes of prejudice, controversy and problems with refereeing. For example, Milan's current head goalkeeper, Mike Maignan, was a victim of racism in a match in the Italian Championship. In response, he left the pitch for a brief moment and made strong statements about the anti-racist struggle.

Who is Mike Maignan, Milan goalkeeper?

Born in French Guiana, Mike Maignan is the current goalkeeper of Milan, Italy. The Frenchman started his career in 2009 in the youth categories of Paris Saint-Germain. After a long period among the juniors, Maignan was promoted to PSG B in 2012. A few years later, he transferred to Lille B.

In this context, Mike Maignan was promoted to Lille's first team in August 2015, where he stayed until 2021. Despite having started his career there in the reserves, he accumulated 180 games in the period he defended the colors of the rival of his training club.

It is worth noting that many of these matches took place from 2017–18, when coach Marcelo Bielsa benched Enyema and put Maignan in the starting lineup. Three seasons later, in 2020–21, the goalkeeper won the French Championship with his team.

After a great season in France, Mike Maignan left his post as Lille's goalkeeper to defend Milan. The player arrived in Italy to replace Gianluigi Donnarumma, who had done the opposite: he went to France to defend Paris Saint-Germain.

The status with which the Frenchman arrived at the Milan team generated some types of situations, which he has to deal with until today. That's because, right away, still in his first season, he suffered racism in a match against Juventus in the Italian Championship.

Even with numerous forms of awareness over the years, Mike Maignan continued to be the victim of offenses in Italy. The most recent case happened in the 2023–24 season, when the Milan goalkeeper heard monkey imitations coming from the stands when he went to get a ball behind the goal.

At the time, the player communicated to the referee, who stopped the match, and then headed off the field. Udinese was punished with home field without fans.

Milan career[edit]

2021–22

Mike Maignan's first season as Milan's goalkeeper was positive in some ways. This is because, despite the episode of racism and surgery, he was crowned champion of the Italian Championship and won the award for best goalkeeper of the season in the Italian Serie A.

By the way, it is interesting to remember Maignan's injury, as the goalkeeper was expected to be out of the field for ten weeks. However, it took only six weeks for recovery.

The Frenchman returned making saves and having solid performances in the following games, including an assist for Rafael Leão. The action was the first of its kind between goalkeepers since Dida in 2006.

2022–23

In the 2022–23 season, Mike Maignan played 29 games as a goalkeeper for Milan. Of these, there were 22 matches in the Italian Championship and another seven in the Champions League. The Frenchman was unable to make a full calendar on that occasion due to two injuries.

Firstly, a muscle tear of the fibula muscle left him out of combat. When he had barely recovered, he suffered a calf injury.

Regarding the warning for cards, Mike Maignan is a very disciplined goalkeeper, having become a reference in Milan. According to analysts, in fact, the goalkeeper can be described as a leader on the field, a focused and very professional person.

One of the situations that can serve as an example to support this is the number of cards received by him throughout the seasons. In 29 games played in 2022–23, he received only one yellow card.

2023–24

The 2023–24 season was much better for the Milan goalkeeper. That's because Mike Maignan played 42 matches. There were 29 in the Italian Championship, six in the Champions League, six in the Europa League and, finally, one game in the Italian Cup. Still talking about punishments, the goalkeeper received three yellow cards and one red in the last European season.