Gianluigi Buffon back at Juventus: records still to be broken
Thursday, July 4, 2019
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Gianluigi Buffon has rejoined Juventus – aged 41 and with over 1,000 career games under his belt, he has plenty left to aim for.
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Gianluigi Buffon is back at Juventus after a season at Paris. He initially spent 17 years with the Bianconeri, joining the club on 3 July 2001, and now completes his return 18 years and a day later.
The former Italy goalkeeper, capped 176 times by his country – more than any other European player in history – already has several records to his name, as well as plenty still to be broken.
Current stats
Italy: 176 caps
UEFA club competitions: 165 appearances
Italian domestic competitions: 715 appearances
Juventus: 656 appearances
Records to be broken
• Most Serie A appearances: Paolo Maldini leads the way with 647, but Buffon is just seven adrift on 640.
• Most Juventus appearances: This is going to be difficult, as Alessandro Del Piero is top of the pile with 705, while Buffon has 656 to his name.
• Most Serie A appearances for Juventus: Buffon, with 472, needs just seven more outings to surpass Del Piero's tally.
• Most Juventus appearances in UEFA club competition: Del Piero again! 'Pinturicchio' featured in 129 European matches compared with Buffon's 124. Juve, of course, will begin their latest UEFA Champions League campaign in the group stage.
• Second oldest player to appear in the UEFA Champions League: Another Italian keeper, Marco Ballotta, holds the record having played in the competition aged 43 years and 253 days. Buffon will go second on the list if he is involved this term, outstripping ex-Chelsea man Mark Schwarzer.
• Oldest player to reach a European Cup final: Another Italian favourite, Dino Zoff, played in the 1983 showpiece at the ripe old age of 41 years and 86 days. Buffon will eclipse Zoff if Juve go all the way this season.
• Oldest player to win the UEFA Champions League: Maldini did so in 2007 at 38 years and 331 days old. Buffon will comfortably beat that record if, during the remainder of his career, he lifts the trophy for the first time.
• First player to win ten Serie A titles: Buffon has already won nine, and landed another domestic crown with Paris in 2018/19. With another Scudetto, however, he would become the first to win the Italian domestic title on ten occasions.