When Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italy’s goalkeeper, made the amazing save against England, he had no idea that the match had ended. After saving the hit made by Bukayo Saka, he simply walked off from the field and had no idea that they had won the European Championship.

Reactions of Teammates

The keeper’s actions gave rise to chatter on social media about how he was not participating in the celebrations with his fellow players. However, Donnarumma later mentioned that until his teammates rushed to him in their celebratory spirit, he had no idea that he had just made a game-winning save opposite the England team. He informed Sky Sport Italia in an interview, “I didn’t celebrate on the penalty because I didn’t understand that we had won.” It seemed like a great moment of confusion for the 22-year-old player.

From Confusion to Celebration

He added that he was a little down when he saw that Jorginho had missed the penalty shot. To him, it meant that they had lost the match but he soon realized that he actually had to keep playing. Also, with VAR, they could not be in front so they always focused on the player’s feet. As a result, Donnarumma looked at the referee to check if all was well. But in the next instant, he saw his fellow players running towards him in a cheery mood. That is when he began to realize that they had won the game.

A Big Win

The former AC Milan player is just the second goalkeeper to even win the Player of the Tournament title, thanks to three clean sheets and the three penalty saves he made. Two of those saves were against England during the finals itself and one of them was during the semifinal match against the Spanish team. The first keeper to even win this title in the European Championship was Peter Schmeichel from Denmark, in 1992. This Italian goalkeeper is expected to transfer to PSG, during the summer.

After their struggles inside the bubble, we’re sure a collective sigh of relief was ushered around Los Angeles. It has been a long time coming, but officially, the Lakers are the 2020 Western Conference No.1 seed.

A Long Time Coming

The Lakers managed to secure their no.1 status in the Western Conference at the beginning of August. It was the first time the franchise has sat pretty at the top since 2010.

After sealing a victory over the Jazz by 116-108, the Lakers could now begin to focus their attention on potential playoff opponents. It looks like all the hard work was worth it, with Anthony Davis saying that securing the number one spot was a good feeling.

Favorites To Win?

The Lakers remain the team that most experts are picking to make it all the way to the top of the mountain, but their form hasn’t been amazing inside the NBA bubble. The Toronto Raptors have shown they won’t be giving up their crown without a fight, while it’s impossible to rule out the Bucks, Clippers, and Rockets.

An Unpredictable Season

Form and fortunes have seemingly been difficult to predict since the NBA resumed its season. For that reason, the playoffs could be one of the most unpredictable we have seen in several years.

It’s going to be a quick turnaround for whichever teams make it to the NBA finals, with the start of the 2020-21 season scheduled to begin in December. The teams that haven’t returned to the NBA could end up having an advantage with plenty of additional time to practice, practice, practice.

LeBron James and co. have been able to take it easy knowing they are the no.1 seed, but they can’t slack off too much. They still need to take some form into the playoffs, otherwise, they could find themselves heading home long before the finals.