Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is expected to be given one final opportunity to win the Champions League.
He is certain to start in the upcoming final against Barcelona. Juventus were least expected to reach the final since they did not have a squad capable of challenging against the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. However, they have managed to do the unimaginable by overcoming top clubs like Madrid to reach the final.
Whereas the opponents relied upon individual talents like Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus were more about playing as a team. Irrespective of the result on Saturday, Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri will receive a lot of credit.
After taking over from Antonio Conte just a few days before the start of the campaign, Allegri has made Juventus into a fully functional unit capable of challenging on all fronts. They have already managed to win the Italian Serie A once again, while also adding the Coppa Italia to their credit. A win in the Champions League final will see them become the next team after Inter Milan to secure a treble. Buffon is a staunch admirer of Conte, but even then, he has lavished praise on Allegri. The 37-year-old reckons that the former Milan manager has been excellent for Juventus.
“What has impressed me most is his great intelligence in terms of settling in with the squad and trying to find out not just our technical qualities but also the mentality and morale of the whole team and each individual player.His tactical knowledge is outstanding – after years of playing a certain system, he managed to get us to try alternatives and to perform even better.Even so, he has not tried to completely change how we’ve played because in some situations or matches we have returned to how we played before,” said Buffon.