A champion without a trophy

CAIRO – 7 June 2017: At the end of each football season, talks increase about which major player would retire without winning the Champions League. The talks consist of those players who performed at the highest level, but where not fortunate enough.
Gianluigi Buffon is an excellent example amongst players that fell short of raising the trophy.

Buffon came close to lifting the Champions League Trophy three times. His first shot at the title was at Old Trafford in 2003. He was only 25 years old. Buffon was a young and talented goalkeeper for Juventus, who played against AC Milan in the Champions League Final. The match can be easily described as two unbreakable forces clashing head to head. Unfortunately, the penalty shoot-outs handed the young talent a huge lost. The tough lose was only the beginning for him.

The second encounter came during the Champions League trophy in Berlin in 2015 against Barcelona. Barcelona is one of the deadliest attacking teams in football. The road to the final was not paved with flowers and sunshine; it was full of hardships and disappointing moments. In 2007, Juventus was relegated to lower division “Seria B" due to the Calciopoli Scandal that uncovered bribery in the Seria A. However, Buffon remained with the club and helped them gain promotion to the Seria A again.

After that Buffon helped them regain their Champions League spot and the Seria A trophy. Now, it was the time to win the Champions League. Juventus went into the game with the hope that they would defeat Barcelona, but unfortunately they could not.

Barcelona managed to gain the Champions League title by winning 3-1. Bufon left the stadium with tears in his heart after losing the tournament once again. Many people doubted that El Capitano will face the Champions League Trophy another time.

However, El Capitano did not give up and was sure that he would come face to face with the trophy once again. This time Buffon had to face Real Madrid in Cardiff on June 3, 2017. Many people favored Juventus over Real Madrid, especially after being unbeaten throughout the whole tournament and conceding only 3 goals before the final. Juventus entered the match in a good shape, but it was not until Casemiro scored the second goal that all the pieces began to fall apart. The match ended 4-1 and Juventus lost for the first time in the Champions League tournament. The season ended and Juventus conceded more goals in the final than they allowed throughout the tournament.

Holding the record of the most clean sheets in the history of the Seria A with 974 minutes, Buffon is not the only legend who has failed to win the Champions League. The list is long with players like Micheal Ballack, Totti, the Brazilian Ronaldo, Dennis Bergkamp, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fabio Cannavaro, and Lillian Thuram all failing to raise the trophy. They are all still champions!