This Tuesday, the historic 45-year-old Italian goalkeeper, Gianluiggi Buffon, spoke about his time at Paris Saint Germain in the 2018/19 season and explained that the environment of the French team lacked the “will to fight” and compared it with his former team Juventus.
“The (PSG) environment lacked the attitude that Juventus had, that willingness to fight like any (Juve defender) Chiellini,” Buffon said in an interview with the Bobo TV channel.
After 17 years defending the black and white shirt of Juventus, Buffon decided to leave the Old Lady towards PSG in 2018, which had Neymar and Mbappé. In French football, the goalkeeper played 25 games, was champion of Ligue 1 and French Super Cup.
“It was the best experience of my life, I felt like a free man there. After a while I was already speaking French, talking to people on the street, visiting museums… And then I had the feeling of being on a very strong team, there was an incredible quality to the training,” said Buffon.
Despite the titles won that season, Paris Saint Germain was prematurely eliminated from the Champions League. After defeating Manchester United away from home, in the first leg of the round of 16, PSG took the turn in the Princes Park.
“I was convinced that we could win the Champions League, we were superior to everyone. We went to Manchester to play the round of 16 and we dominated. Then, on the way back, we were eliminated and that remains the biggest disappointment of my career to this day”, declared.
Buffon returned to Juventus in 2019 and said goodbye to the club after two seasons. Currently, the 45-year-old goalkeeper plays for Parma, in the Italian second division. However, the world champion with Italy revealed that his departure from PSG was a “huge mistake”.
“Leaving was a big mistake. I even gave up 10 million euros. They told me that they were happy with me, but that in the next Champions League they would like to use Areola, a goalkeeper revealed at the base. I didn’t accept it. For me, sport is for who deserves to play. Why would I be a substitute in France?
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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