Gianluigi Buffon’s Champions League career ended in chaos and heartbreak on Wednesday night.
Buffon received a red card for aggressively protesting the decision to award Real Madrid a stoppage-time penalty in the quarter-final second-leg at the Bernabeu. Juventus went into the game trailing 3-0 on aggregate but managed to draw level in the tie thanks to two goals from Mario Mandzukic and another from Blaise Matuidi.
The match looked set to go to extra-time until Michael Oliver awarded a penalty for a push on Lucas Vasquez by Medhi Benatia in the Juventus penalty area. It appeared to be the correct decision, but in the heat of the moment, with all of their hard work about to snatched away, the Juventus players lost their composure, particularly Buffon.
By the time he spoke to the media following the match, the Italian goalkeeper was still furious with Oliver.
“The team gave it’s all but a human being cannot destroy dreams like that at the end of an extraordinary comeback on a dubious situation,” Buffon said about the English referee.
“If you want to be that protagonist, sit in the ground with your wife. The referee has a trash can where his heart should be.”
Buffon’s reaction seemed unbecoming and out of character. The 40-year-old has always come across as a great sportsperson, and his respect for his opponents – such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane – has been evident this season. The significance of the match doesn’t justify Buffon’s actions, but it does in part explain why he was so angry and reacted the way he did.
The Italian goalkeeper will retire at the end of the season, and the Champions League is the only major honour he has not won in his illustrious club career. Of course, regardless of what happened at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night, Buffon has had a fantastic career. The 40-year-old has won eight Serie A titles, the World Cup and has won an astonishing 176 caps for Italy. Only Paolo Maldini has played more games in the Italian top flight.
The football romantics would have loved to see the legendary goalkeeper lift the Champions League trophy at the final in Kiev on May 26th, but he has had a phenomenal career and achieved more than most professional footballers could dream of.
This ignominious end to his career in the Champions League doesn’t taint how consistently brilliant he has been for over 20 years, and that was reflected in the reaction of the Real Madrid fans as Buffon made his way off the pitch on Wednesday night.
The supporters in the Bernabeu rose to give the Juventus goalkeeper a standing ovation. Buffon clearly had other things on his mind at the time, but he would surely have appreciated the gesture from the demanding Madrid crowd, who reserve such receptions for truly special footballers.
On aurait tous préféré que sa carrière européenne se termine autrement mais l’ovation du Bernabéu pour Buffon restera l’une des images fortes de la soirée. #RealMadridJuventus pic.twitter.com/Hf4mTgFjkq
— Louis Vix (@VixLouis) April 11, 2018
