Gianluigi Buffon has won nine Serie A with Juventus. (Source: Reuters)
When Cristiano Ronaldo had silenced Turin with his overhead kick playing for Real Madrid against Juventus in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, even the home fans had applauded the effort. Even Gianluigi Buffon, the one who conceded it, was left astounded.
The legendary Italian goalkeeper shared how he had asked about Ronaldo’s age after his jaw-dropping effort against the Serie A champions in April 2018.
“After about 25 seconds of normal frustration over the goal I conceded, I thought about what he had done to me, something really great,” Buffon said at the Trento Sports Festival.
“I asked him, ‘Cristiano, how old are you?’ and he said, ‘Not bad for a 33-year-old, right?’ In the end, we both laughed.”
Buffon talking about Cristiano Ronaldo. Legend recognises legend, great video. Nothing but respect. 👏 pic.twitter.com/04IG0zoaCk
— FutbolBible (@FutbolBible) April 6, 2020
Buffon, who plays for Juventus now after going away to Paris Saint-Germain for a year, also expressed his pride in being able to play with the 35-year-old at the club level.
“At the end of my career, I had the chance to play with Cristiano and that’s an extra point,” he added.
“It’s hard to improve if you don’t play with the best and I wanted to add him to the list of the great champions I’ve played with. We usually take two or three minutes in the training to speak and, for me, it has been a pleasure meeting him.”
Incidentally, Cristiano Ronaldo had picked that overhead attempt as his favourite goal in an interview with France Football, after scoring his 700th career goal in October 2019.
“Seven hundred goals, it’s an impressive total that makes me all the more proud that few players have reached. If you ask me to choose [a favourite], I would say the goal against Juventus because it’s a goal I’ve been trying to score for years,” he said.