TURIN: Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon set a record for the number of Serie A appearances when he played his 648th game in the Italian top flight against Torino on Saturday.
The 42-year-old, who made his Serie A debut for Parma as a 17-year-old in November 1995, overtook the record previously held by former AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini. Buffon stayed with Parma for six seasons, making 168 Serie A appearances, before joining Juventus in 2001. He left the Turin side at the end of the 2017-18 season and joined Paris St Germain, where he spent one season before returning to Juventus. He also played 37 times in Serie B after Juventus were relegated over the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal in 2006 and 17 times in Ligue 1 with Paris St Germain.
Saturday’s match was his eighth of the season in Serie A and his first this year.He is widely regarded by players, pundits and managers as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, and, by many, as the greatest ever.
Buffon holds the record for the longest streak without conceding a goal in Serie A history: over 12 league matches, he went unbeaten for 974 consecutive minutes during the 2015–16 season. (Reuters)
