Every step towards this years Champions League final in Cardiff, the primary focus around Juventus remains Gianluigi Buffon and the one trophy he hasn’t won. Never mind the fact that at 39 years of age, he remains arguably the best goalkeeper in the world. His form in the 2016-17 season has been imperious in all competitions. He has captained Juventus to their sixth straight Scudetto title in Italy. And while he took a substitutes role in Juventus’s third straight Coppa Italia, he will be the man the football world outside of those affiliated with Madrid will be hoping to see lift the Champions League trophy on Saturday evening.
I love Gigi Buffon. I’m very select about which players I truly idolise. Alessandro Del Piero was the reason I first began to follow Juventus during their run of 3 successive Champions League Final appearances in the late 90’s. There was no shortage of superstars at the club back then between Zinedine Zidane, Edgar Davids, Angelo Peruzzi, Christian Vieri. It was Del Piero who caught my imagination however. Everyone has been raving about Francesco Totti and his final season coming to an end at Roma but in my mind, there was no debate about who was better. Del Piero was a club legend and captain when they reached the final again in 2003 against AC Milan. It was a decider that remained scoreless over 120 minutes of football, going to penalties. Milan, with their Brazilian goalkeeper Dida were victorious, but it was Buffon who made a bigger impression on me. His defiant passionate celebrations after each of his two saves immediately endeared him to my heart. But his passion, clean sheet and two penalty saves were not enough to prevent a sixth final defeat for the club. Their seventh and most recent came two years ago against Barcelona. Buffon was still there, much older, but still the fearless protector of that net.
I watched that final in Donegal with friends. After completing a triathlon in the morning, I spent the rest of the day walking around in a Juve tracksuit, with my classic 1996-97 Kappa home jersey underneath, in nervous anticipation. I was adamant that Juventus would beat Barcelona that night. They were without Giorgio Chiellini but there was still enough quality in their squad to overcome their opponents. And although Messi did not score, Neymar and Luis Suarez did. We had all put money into a pot for first goal scorer. No one had Rakitic but I had Alvaro Morata, who scored the equaliser. I was delirious when he scored, not only because I won money but I felt it was a real turning point in the game that Juventus could kick on from. Sadly that would be the height of my joy. Barcelona would score twice more to win 3-1. Pirlo was reduced to tears, many Juventus fans followed suit. Gigi was left to rue another final chance gone a begging.
Every neutral across the football world wants to see Juventus win on Saturday evening for Buffon. It would be the final chapter in a wonderful storied career. However, it would be remiss of us to define his career about the one medal he does not have. He’s won 10 Serie A titles, 4 Coppa Italias, 6 Supper Coppas, the UEFA Cup and oh yeah, the fucking World Cup in 2006. I wrote two years in an article that winning the Champions League would surely end the debate of who is the greatest goalkeeper of all time. I don’t hold such feelings this time around. He is simply the best I have ever seen or ever will see. On that sentiment, its not just Buffon why I want Juventus to win. 21 years have passed since the club last won a Champions League title. Since then, they’ve gone through several managers and stadiums. Become a home for some players (Nedved & Trezeguet) and a passing stop ahead of bigger things (Zidane & Ibrahimovic). There was Calciopoli, demotion to Serie B, promotion back to Serie A. A couple of years of mid table mediocrity followed before they embarked on a run of dominance that continues to this day.
I don’t remember the 1996 final but I do remember the 1997. Borussia Dortmund came into the game as outsiders but didn’t let it deter them in taking a 2 goal lead inside the first half. Del Piero pulled one back through audacious heel flick only for Lars Ricken to lob Angelo Peruzzi late on to secure the game. There was nothing Zidane, Del Piero Vieri et al. could do but watch on. A year later it was Real Madrid, where a dour game was decided by an offside goal from Mijatovic. I never forgot that name. He done relative fuck all in his career but score one poxy goal in a Champions League final and another goal against Ireland for me to remember him to my dying day. Three finals in three years but one victory to show for it. Atletico Madrid fans would probably bite your hand off for a similar return right now but 21 years have passed since Juventus defeated Ajax on penalties. No club is more hungry to win a title in football than the Blanconeri.
I remember the sense of unease I felt when Massimiliano Allegri replaced Antonio Conte as Juventus manager in 2014. Conte, despite his shortcomings in Europe, personified the clubs return to dominance he took over as manager in 2011. He was passionate, he was defiant, he took no prisoners and imparted his attitude onto the club in such a manner that no club in Italy would stand in Juventus’ return to the top. Such a management style leaves you open to burnout and that’s what happened to Antonio. He couldn’t bring his team any further and a change, at least for himself was needed. Allegri was a former AC Milan manager who after winning the league in his first season was sacked halfway through his 2nd, and was out of a job in the two and a half years that followed. It was an appointment at the time that was safe at best, unambitious and reckless at worst. Yet, did anyone expect what has followed since then?
Three consecutive seasons winning the League and Cup double speaks volumes. An achievement unmatched in Italian Football history, Allegri has built a team that had won 3 league titles in a row and made them substantially better. Amidst the tactical innovations that have brought this team on further, it’s been achieved amongst the backdrop of significant squad overhaul. After that Champions League final in 2015, Pirlo ended his spell in Turin and went to America. Tevez returned home to Argentina. Those were moves not entirely unexpected. More painful however was the decision of Arturo Vidal to leave for Bayern Munich, a decision motivated by the desire to win the Champions League. It would be Vidal and Bayern Munich who would eliminate Juventus from the competition in 2016, despite being mere seconds from being knocked out themselves until a stoppage time equaliser from Thomas Mulller forced extra time. Undeterred, Allegri and his side completed their 2nd League and Cup double. Morata, the hero in that 2016 Italian Cup final against AC Milan, went back to Real Madrid. Paul Pogba also returned to his former club as Man United shelled out 105 million for a player they let go on a free transfer.
All five of those players started the final in Berlin two years. To lose five key players from your team at any level would be hard to recover from. Instead, Allegri has reinvested the money and brought in new players integral to a team that is arguably better than the one that lost to Barcelona. Paulo Dybala is slowly announcing himself as the next big thing in football. Two superb goals in the quarter final against Barcelona brought him to the wider attention of the football world. Yet his progression has been steady and impressive, having scored 23 goals in his first season at the club, averaging one in every two games. His pace and agility blend superbly with his technical ability to cut open defences on his own or assisting his teammates. Continuing the clubs trend of picking up quality players on a free transfer, Sami Khedira joined the club that same summer giving the midfield even greater versatility. Mario Mandzukic immediately endeared himself to the support with his tireless displays. More impressive about the Croatian’s good form for Juventus is the fact he is often deployed on the right hand side of midfield and not up front.
Last summer, Juventus had a huge budget to contend with given the money they got for Pogba and Morata. We’ve seen how easily it is to waste such vast amounts of money on poor players. Liverpool and Tottenham in recent years could be accused of replacing their own superstars with quantity rather than quality. No such argument could be levelled at Juventus. Marko Pjaca and Miralem Pjanic arrived for a combined fee of 55 million, the latter being viewed as a devastating statement of intent to the rest of Italian football as the Bosnian left rivals AS Roma for Juve. They also picked up Dani Alves on a free transfer. Despite the fact Alves broke his leg in November, he has recovered in time to put up in some excellent performances, especially in Europe. As the transfer of Pogba dragged on, the club announced another signing that left shockwaves across Italian and indeed World football when they signed Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli for €90 million. Many balked at the fee, stating it was way over the top for Higuain, no matter how talented he was. Although he had scored 91 goals across the past three seasons for Napoli, questions still remained over how effective he would be for Juventus. The questions have been answered emphatically. He has scored 32 goals in all competitions, totalling 54 games altogether. It’s a statistic not seen at the club since Del Piero scored the same amount 20 years ago.
One more would give him a record of his own, it would give him something to remind Madrid fans about. Higuain spent a number of years at the club. I hope, unlike Morata, he is celebrating with every ounce of passion inside him. Juventus need to score goals. I have no doubt they can contain Ronaldo et al. They did a superb job at the semi-final stage two years ago, where only a dubious penalty and a defensive mistake allowed the Portugese superstar to beat Buffon. Throughout the 180 minutes, the Spanish club struggled to break down a defence that still contains Bonucci and Chiellini today. Barzagli, along with Medhi Benatia are in reserve just in case. If either Alves or Alex Sandro are having an off day, Stephan Lichtsteiner can come in and do just as good a job. I’m not being dismissive about the firepower Real have. I feel too many are being dismissive of how complete a team this Juventus side are. There are, in my opinion, no real weak spots that can be exploited or exposed enough to decide this final. Of course, Juventus can not show up on the night. They’ll only have themselves to blame if they do not win this final. 2015 was one that got away. There should be no similar feeling this time around.
Its easy to get caught up in romanticism of Buffon winning that final medal. There would be no chance of the man himself doing that. Lets turn it around though. Maybe this will be the first of many Champions League medals for Dybala, Higuain, Pjanic etc. Maybe Dybala himself will collect everything and retire a legend for club and country. Juventus have enjoyed an excellent record over Real Madrid since that 1998 final in Europe. Two were memorable semi-final victories in 2003 and 2015 but victory on Saturday will be a true measure of revenge for that final defeat. For a club of Juventus’ stature, to only win this competition twice is not good enough. And one of those victories will forever have a shadow over it. There is more than enough reasons to support Juventus this Saturday than Gigi Buffon. They shouldn’t do it for him and he’d say as much himself. He has forged an unbreakable bond with the supporters since arriving from Parma in 2001. You only have to look at countless post match videos after important Juventus victories. He’d love nothing more than to share this title with Juventus supporters the world over.
He’ll do it for himself as much as he’ll do it for Ju.
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