It has been barely a year since Gianluigi Donnarumma was at the Théâtre du Châtelet being crowned the best goalkeeper in the world. On the stage once graced by Vaslav Nijinsky, Donnarumma collected the Yashin Trophy but suggested he could still improve.

He said that improving his game under Pep Guardiola was one of the reasons for his move to Manchester City, but that only goes to show how quickly football changes. No more Guardiola at City and Donnarumma has suffered a crisis of confidence in his second season in English football.

Donnarumma’s blunder against RB Leipzig – beaten at the near post by a cross that turned into a shot – was not his first of the season but City got away with it at Red Bull Arena, as Erling Haaland scored a late winner. City may be within sight of the Champions League knockout stage, but their back line has been a problem all season.

And their nervousness around Donnarumma has played a part in going seven games without a clean sheet. Nottingham Forest are next and no doubt Oliver Glasner will be telling his players to test all facets of Donnarumma’s game.

The other guarantee is that Donnarumma will be starting at the City Ground on Saturday. Enzo Maresca has backed the 27-year-old despite his high-profile errors this season. The City head coach gave Donnarumma a role in his leadership group and he has an important role in the squad. Speaking on Friday, Maresca said: “Overall he’s relaxed in terms of recognising that he has done some mistakes, but at the same time he has also made good saves. It is a matter of balance, trying to avoid the mistakes and continue to do the right things.”

With Rodri, John Stones and Bernardo Silva among the summer departures, it has been Donnarumma who has helped his team-mates navigate the campaign, which has included the club being found guilty of financial breaches by the Premier League. While the playing squad have been insulated from the verdict, it was discussed by players after it was announced.

Donnarumma is a strong presence in the dressing room and the indications from Maresca are that he is standing by his No 1. But he will also know that winning a Premier League or a Champions League is almost impossible with an error-prone goalkeeper operating behind a leaky defence.

“In this moment, it is Gigio plus 10,” Maresca said after Nicolas Jackson’s winning goal for Aston Villa, which squirmed under Donnarumma’s body at Villa Park.

But there have been other errors too, including spooning Maghnes Akliouche’s shot into his own goal at a crucial stage of the Paris St-Germain tie. The European champions were winning 3-1 until the mistake, with the goal taking the wind out of City’s sails as they looked for a way back. As analysts at the time pointed out, Donnarumma should have been pushing the ball away from his own goal.

Earlier in the campaign there were signs of nervousness with the ball at Donnarumma’s feet. Against Coventry City he was centimetres from walking the ball into his own net, then a few days later he had a kick charged down by William Gomes, the Porto striker. Donnarumma was lucky the ricochet went just wide.

His positioning was completely wrong against RB Leipzig and Ridle Baku snuck a finish into the near post when most were expecting a cross. But even earlier in the game, Donnarumma fumbled a Christoph Baumgartner shot and was fortunate to avoid a repeat of his PSG gaffe.

City moving for Donnarumma at the start of last season was something of a surprise, given that James Trafford was back at the club and looking likely to be given No 1 duties. But he suffered a poor start to the campaign and – with Donnarumma on the market – Guardiola decided to move.

Guardiola was ruthless in his final season at the club. But Donnarumma pulled off fine saves such as the tip over the bar from Alexis Mac Allister at Anfield, and his errors this season have been dotted around some world-class moments, too.

Just before he was beaten by Baku, he tipped another Baumgartner shot around a post and celebrated like he had scored a goal. “But I think that is telling, that he is celebrating like that, it highlights the lack of confidence he has and understanding the errors,” Joleon Lescott, the former City centre-back, said while working as a pundit on TNT Sports.

Maresca does not have options that would allow him to take his No 1 out of the firing line at the moment. Gerónimo Rulli is highly regarded at the Etihad Stadium but only as a No 2. All the “noise” that City talk about at the moment is about the Premier League guilty verdict, rather than whether they are looking at future goalkeepers.

Donnarumma is young for a goalkeeper and has three more full seasons – plus another year that can be triggered – on his contract, so he is regarded as long term. Maresca’s job will now be helping him return to Yashin Trophy-winning form.

Uefa highlighted his performance for PSG against Liverpool in their “Fedex Performance Zone”, recording a 0.4-second reaction time when he saved Curtis Jones’ penalty in March 2025. “Mobility and range”, noted Europe’s governing body, which has technical analysis of every Champions League game.

At the moment he is 21st in the ranking of Champions League goalkeepers this season, although that metric is deceptive because it is based on saves and the best teams do not offer opponents many opportunities. But at the moment City are looking vulnerable at the back, not helped by Maresca changing his back line. Even so, he has made a decision that there will not be a change in goal.