648 times Gianluigi Buffon: announced titular with Juventus in the derby against Torino (5:15 pm), the legendary Italian goalkeeper should become Saturday the only record holder of the number of games played in Serie A with 648, one more than Paolo Maldini .
To these 648 matches, 175 must be added to the selection, others in the Italian Cup, the Champions League and the Europa League, a handful also in France with Paris SG and we arrive at a dizzying total: 1,089 professional matches, pending that of Saturday.
The story began on November 19, 1995. Buffon is 17 years old and he is the guardian N.3 of Parma. Holder Luca Bucci is injured and everything indicates that to face AC Milan, coach Nevio Scala will call on his replacement, the experienced Alessandro Nista. But Scala chooses Buffon, his youth and his athletic and technical qualities, already evident in the Primavera championship, that of the youth teams.
The future champion also seems completely alien to any form of stress, to the point that legend has it that he fell asleep on the bus that drove the team to the stadium. The young Buffon's talent is very real and the Milan strikers at the time, George Weah and Roberto Baggio, two Golden Balls, are the first witnesses, the match ending in a 0-0.
Record on record
“This day in 1995, I never imagined arriving here but the will existed. I was lucky, unquestionably. And I was also pretty good, ”said Buffon at the start of the season. With Juventus, the most important club of his career, the Carrara giant is currently playing his 25th professional season, including one in France at PSG, without which he would have already passed Maldini a long time ago.
He has been a man of the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and now 2020s. Over four decades, he has accumulated dozens of exploits, collected titles (nine times Italian champion, 2006 world champion) but also the League finals lost champions (three), beaten record after record, with notably his 974 minutes of invincibility in 2016, and also assumed a handful of errors, on and off the field.
He has above all retained an intact passion for the game and a physique of a young man (42 years old, anyway) which makes him a bulwark always reliable for Juventus, even if from now on his status is that of a N.2 d 'experience.
"Be that landmark"
“Joining Paolo Maldini at the top of this ranking is an honor. If I continue to play, it is because I can still offer myself, as well as my team-mates and this club, magnificent emotions, which are worth living, "he explained in December after having equaled the record of the former Milan defender at Sampdoria-Juventus.
“For the future, I let life show me the way. Today, I think I would hurt myself if I thought about quitting playing, because I think I am a landmark for the group. Being this benchmark is what pushes me to go forward, to want to improve myself again, "explained the immortal again in December, already hinting that the current season would probably not be the last.
The hypothesis was confirmed this week with a new contract extension of one year, announced by Juventus at the same time as that of Giorgio Chiellini. "Captains, symbols, bianconeri since always, bianconeri for always", wrote the Turin club.
Twenty-five years later, the sleepy and carefree kid from Parma has become a wise man in his forties and his hair is turning gray. But the goalkeeper hasn't changed much. 647, 648 ...
Read also
- Serie A ranking
