Buffon: Like a masterpiece in Serie A

A few days after movie lovers went crazy over "Spider-Man" appearing in the final trailer of "Captain America: Civil War", another "Spider-Man" has caused a stir in the football world.

A comfortable 1-0 win over Sassuolo in the early match of round 29 on March 11 helped Juventus extend the gap with second-placed Napoli to six points, before coach Maurizio Sarri's team entered the late match against Palermo next Sunday night. The only goal of Paulo Dybala - a new face and the most watchable player in Serie A at the moment - helped Juve continue their exciting streak. But the name mentioned most after the match was very old: Gigi Buffon.

Not allowing Sassuolo's strikers to invade his goal, Buffon has 926 minutes without a goal, surpassing the record of 903 minutes set by his predecessor Dino Zoff. He also needs only three more minutes to surpass the record of 929 minutes set by legendary goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi in the 1993-1994 season.

Buffon has come very close to becoming the best goalkeeper in the history of Italian football. Photo: ANSA.

The last time Buffon conceded a goal was on January 10, against Sampdoria. Since then, the goalkeeper has blocked every shot on goal, helping Juve climb from the halfway point to the top of the table. The "Derby della Mole" against Torino next Sunday is where Buffon has the chance to set a new record for himself and for Serie A.

But if Buffon had conceded a goal in the first four minutes of that match, missing out on a stunning record by a hair's breadth, he probably wouldn't have had any regrets. For a long time, Buffon has not cared about milestones, records or honours. The 38-year-old goalkeeper was not on the list of 59 candidates for the recent Ballon d'Or, despite being the main character in Juve's "near treble" journey last season. It was even more ridiculous when that list included David Ospina, a man whose talent, titles and form during the same period were incomparable to Buffon.

Because his captain was not given the respect he deserved, Italy coach Antonio Conte boycotted the award. Max Allegri, Buffon's coach at Juve, called it a scandal that Buffon had not won a Ballon d'Or to this day. But Buffon had his own way of responding, and it was a very manly one. Since the night Lionel Messi won his fifth Ballon d'Or, Buffon has not allowed anyone to score against him in Serie A, until now.

Over the past two months, Buffon has surpassed the records of Davide Pinato (757 minutes), Ivan Pelizzoli (774) and Mario da Pozzo (791) to now be just three minutes away from Rossi's undisputed top spot. Why mention these three names, even though they are certainly not well-known to many people? Because keeping a clean sheet for a long time sometimes requires a lot of luck.

But when Buffon passed Dino Zoff to get closer to Rossi, no one said it was luck. Zoff said: "Buffon is a living legend, I'm happy that he's about to get the record and I hope he breaks it."

Right from his debut in Serie A, wearing the Parma shirt on November 19, 1995, Buffon was likened to a "Spiderman", when he refused the most talented strikers of that time on the defending champion Milan side such as George Weah, Roberto Baggio, Zvonimir Boban.

When Rossi was playing and setting records, he had one of the most solid defences in history. That defence had Paolo Maldini, Billy Costacurta, Franco Baresi and Mauro Tassotti at their peak, and the defensive midfield duo of Marcel Desailly and Demetrio Albertino up front. Now, Buffon is playing in the twilight of the Italian centre-backs, in an era where Serie A clubs are more focused on attack than defence.

But Buffon stood firm, stopping everything whether he had a four-man defense or a three-man defense, depending on Allegri's tactical scheme. Even Zvoninmir Boban of Milan in the 1990s commented: "Milan in the 1990s had four monuments in defense and a good goalkeeper. Juve today only has Buffon who is worthy of excellence."

When a rival pays such tribute, the honour is somehow more precious than being a Ballon d'Or candidate. Conquering Rossi's record is also an act of bringing to Juve an asset of Milan. That makes Buffon even more immortal.

So what comes after that milestone? There will be many, many more. In that generation of 2006 World Cup champions, Fabio Cannavaro has retired, Andrea Pirlo has moved to the US, Francesco Totti is still here but his days in Serie A are numbered. Only Buffon remains as steadfast as a wall of bronze against time, thanks to his constant setting of milestones to challenge himself.

In the past, Buffon's competition for the world's number one goalkeeper position was Oliver Kahn, Peter Schmeichel. Then, his opponent became Iker Casillas. Now his competitors are the younger generation Manuel Neuer, David de Gea. He has been three generations, loyal in the goal like a statue of the great Michelangelo, who is also from Tuscany with him.

His composure, great reflexes and senior status made Buffon a mainstay for Juventus and the Italian national team during difficult years.

In an interview with ABC last month, Buffon confided: "My best save was not during the match, but outside the game." People know he was talking about the stress, the flood of criticism that can break a goalkeeper's will when he makes a mistake. That stress once pushed one of Buffon's colleagues, Robert Enke, to the point of suicide.

The reason Buffon has been in goal for three decades is because he has achieved a state of inner peace that Roberto Baggio only realized towards the end of his career. Buffon can smile at the most dire moments. He was the one who put on gloves and entered Serie B matches with Juventus just months after winning the World Cup. The brightest stars, including Cannavaro, all "jumped ship", but Buffon, although not originally from Turin, remained. The "Old Lady" gave him a title, and a man never leaves his wife just because she has become uglier.

So with Buffon, the Italians love and admire him a lot. The day he breaks Rossi's record will be a big day for him, for Juventus and for Italian football, which is struggling to regain its golden days.

And in the struggle to find that peak, luckily they still have Buffon.

According to VNE