Buffon seeks the missing medal
At 39 years of age, Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon can look back on a career where he has won almost everything there is to win in the game - except for the Champions League title.
Today Buffon, the finest goalkeeper of his generation, can add the medal he misses the most if his Juventus team can overcome 11-time European champions Real Madrid in Cardiff and make him the oldest player to win the continent’s top prize.
At club level, Buffon got off to a winning start, claiming the Uefa Cup and the Italian Cup with Parma in 1999. With Juventus he has won the Italian league ‘scudetto’ 10 times, although two of those titles were later rescinded following investigations.
In the colours of the national team, under the guidance of his former Juve coach Marcello Lippi, Buffon won the World Cup with the Azzurri in 2006, making up for the disappointment of missing out on Italy’s European Championship success in 2000 due to injury.
Twice the keeper has been in the final of the Champions League but both times the Bianconeri went home as runners-up - to AC Milan on penalties in Manchester in 2003 and against Barcelona in Berlin two years ago.
But his brilliance as a keeper is widely recognised and his enthusiasm for the game and his warm personality have made him hugely popular with his peers of all clubs and nationalities.
“If they weren’t up against Madrid, I would want him to win the Champions with all my heart,” former Real keeper Iker Casillas said this week.
“He deserves it - Gigi shouldn’t end his career without a Champions League,” added the Spaniard, currently with Portuguese club Porto.