Buffon ends 17-year Juventus career with Verona win

Italy goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon was in action for the last time for Serie A champions Juventus on Saturday as his 17-year career with the club ended with a 2-1 victory over Hellas Verona.

Juve were crowned a seventh straight Italian title after the game, having already sealed their triumph with a draw away to Inter Milan last week.

The 40-year-old keeper was substituted just after the hour, and was in tears as he embraced his team-mates while the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Daniele Rugani and Miralem Pjanic scored for the home side before Alessio Cerci pulled a goal back for Verona after Buffon had been replaced by Carlo Pinsoglio.

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Swiss defender Stephan Lichtsteiner – also playing his final game for Juventus – could have increased the advantage, but his late penalty was excellently saved by Nicolas Andrade.

Buffon did a lap of honour while the match continued in Turin, accepting gifts and congratulations from fans.

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Buffon started his career in 1995 at Parma, where he helped the club win the Uefa Cup and Coppa Italia in 1999, before sealing a move to Juventus in 2001.

In his first two seasons at Juve, he won two consecutive league titles and two more followed in 2005 and 2006, but they were later stripped due to a match fixing scandal and the club were relegated to Serie B.

Buffon stayed with the club, winning promotion back to Serie A in 2007.

He became club captain following the departure of Alessandro Del Piero in 2012 as Juventus won the first of seven consecutive Serie A titles.

Meanwhile, Buffon has never managed to win the Champions League, losing the 2003 final to AC Milan, in 2014 to Barcelona and in 2017 to Real Madrid.

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