It would be unfair to compare Gianluigi Buffon to a fine wine because not everyone can appreciate a fine wine.
You would be hard pressed finding someone who couldn’t comprehend what the veteran Italian shot-stopper brings to art of goalkeeping. The man has mastered it.
If you want a brief snapshot that perfectly encapsulates Buffon’s genius, you can do no worse than his exceptional reactionary save in Juventus’ Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Lionel Messi found himself in ‘Lionel Messi range’ i.e. on the pitch somewhere with the ball, and managed to pull off an outrageous pass to split the Serie A side’s defence wide open. Andreas Iniesta was there waiting to receive the ball inside the opposition box after making a beautiful run.
He was left one-on-one with the goalkeeper and really, you would back him against pretty much any other number one in the game. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, it was the one and only Buffon between the posts and he had some magic up his sleeve.
GIANLUIGI. BUFFON. He coulda saved his seat on a @united flight pic.twitter.com/VxpvqkgBao
— MickFlairDrip (@m1897) April 11, 2017
A few moments later, Juventus grabbed their second of the game through Paulo Dybala. Just like that, they went from conceding a certain goal to doubling their advantage.
What a strike!
Dybala has now scored six #UCL goals for Juventus.
100% of them have come with his left foot. https://t.co/gLsq8fxQz1
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 11, 2017
That’s just the power of Buffon, we guess.
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