Buffon left in despair as final chance slips through hands
Goalkeeper looks destined to retire with one medal missing, writes Jason Burt at the Principality Stadium
The expression said it all for this most expressive of footballers. There he stood, right hand over his mouth, squinting back into the crowd, deep, deep in thought; clearly pained and a little shell-shocked. The cruelty of it all for Gianluigi Buffon who has now lost all three Champions League finals he has played in, with Juventus suffering an astonishing seventh loss in their proud history, two more than any other club. That is tough.
This was also the night when the formidable BBC – that incredible defensive wall of Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and 36-year-old Andrea Barzagli – was demolished. Smashed apart. The thirty-somethings creaked.
Having conceded three goals in the 12 matches to reach this final, Juventus, and Buffon, were beaten four times in just 90 minutes. Four times. For a team as driven to protect their clean sheet – Buffon even wrote a love letter in honour of that task after breaking the Serie A record for minutes without conceding – this was traumatic and even disorganised as they were overwhelmed and exposed.
As the fourth was scored, fired in by substitute Marco Asensio, the ball rebounded back out of the net and Buffon crawled on all fours to collect it. It kind of summed it all up. Juventus were on their knees and at that moment, Buffon did look all of his 39 years.
The loneliness of the goalkeeper at
such times; the helplessness and the realisation that this was probably Buffon’s last chance to win the one honour that has eluded him – the European Cup.
What was extraordinary about this final was the deep well of support from football fans around the world for the Italian champions’ hugely popular captain.
Rarely, if ever, has a goalkeeper become the symbol of a team with the strength and skill of Juventus. But then Buffon has been a phenomenon; the Gucci of goalkeepers. He even turned up at this stadium, striding along, in his sunglasses and opennecked shirt, sending social media into meltdown.
Who wants Juventus to win because of Gianluigi Buffon? That was the question. The buzz. He is their captain, leader and legend who has had a brilliant career and yet has lost Champions League finals in 2003, 2015 and now 2017. He had to do it and deny Real.
The first goal? Deflection. The second goal? An even bigger deflection. The third goal? Swept past Buffon before he could fully react from a brilliant Real build-up involving the superb Luka Modric, who orchestrated his team’s triumph, and executed by Cristiano Ronaldo. Buffon had no chance.
Maybe he could have got to the second – Casemiro’s speculative effort from 30 yards that flicked up off the heels of Sami Khedira and spun away from him. He tried, almost in slow motion, to make up the ground and stop it squeezing inside the near post but just could not get there.
The final went in a blur. At half-time Juventus should have been ahead, 15 minutes into the second and it was over.
Blown away by Real. They had nothing left; no way back; shellshocked and beaten as Buffon sat on the turf after Real scored their second. Deep in thought. It was obvious how much he was hurting.
Buffon has one more year left on his contract with Juventus and next summer’s World Cup in Russia – which would be his sixth – feels like a natural end for not only one of the best goalkeepers in the world, maybe the best ever, but also one of the best loved.
No-one surely would begrudge him finally winning the European Cup? But Buffon was denied his finale in the final. By the end, he was crushed.