Buffon hasn't stopped losing to Man Utd in the Champions League
"We kicked our own opportunities," Buffon told the Twitch Bobo TV channel of former Italy teammate Christian Vieri. "Man Utd play in Paris with kids. They have David de Gea, Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford, but the rest of the players are very young."
In the 2018-2019 season, Buffon and the stars Edinson Cavani, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe or Angel Di Maria conquered Ligue 1 and the French Super Cup. They have great expectations in the Champions League, especially when they won 2-0 at Old Trafford of Man Utd thanks to Kylian Mbappe and Presnel Kimpembe. In the rematch in Paris, PSG suddenly lost 1-3 thanks to Lukaku's double and Rashford's penalty in the third minute to advance thanks to the away goals rule.
According to Buffon, the PSG team under Thomas Tuchel was then very strong and capable of winning the Champions League. "PSG dominated in Manchester, but still eliminated. We ruined everything ourselves. This is probably the biggest regret of our career," the 45-year-old goalkeeper expressed.
From 2001 to 2018, Buffon played for Juventus. This was his most successful period at club level, with nine Serie A titles, four Italian Cups and five Italian Super Cups. In 2018, Buffon moved to PSG with the ambition of conquering the Champions League, the big title he lacked. However, it was the Italian goalkeeper who contributed to PSG's elimination, with a careless push leading to Lukaku's second goal. After just one season in Paris, Buffon returned to Juventus.
Buffon admits that leaving PSG early and giving up $11 million of his salary was the big mistake of his life. The Italian goalkeeper revealed that he returned to Juventus because the PSG leadership wanted him to start only in the domestic league, and Alphonse Areola would play in the Champions League. "For me, the player who deserves it comes on," Buffon explained. "After that, I regretted leaving, but Areola was injured, and PSG signed Keylor Navas."
In his second stint at Juventus, Buffon accepted a substitute role for Wojciech Szczesny, but was allowed to break Paolo Maldini's record for most Serie A appearances (658 compared to the former Milan centre-back's 648). During his two years here, he went on to win a Serie A, an Italian Cup and an Italian Super Cup.
Summer 2021 Buffon returns to Parma - the first club in his career. This season, the 45-year-old goalkeeper is taking a long-term break due to a hamstring injury and has only made 12 appearances in all competitions. In a conversation with Vieri, Buffon left open the possibility of retirement after the 2023-2024 season because of "competitiveness" and did not want to be a reserve goalkeeper.
