Gigi Buffon hopes to win the Champions League “sooner rather than later” as Juventus visit Monaco for the quarter-final.

The Bianconeri won the first leg 1-0 and visit the Stade Louis II tomorrow night for a place in the semi-final.

“I know full well this is a very important game for me, my teammates and the whole club,” said the goalkeeper in a Press conference.

Gigi Buffon hopes to win the Champions League “sooner rather than later” as Juventus visit Monaco for the quarter-final.

The Bianconeri won the first leg 1-0 and visit the Stade Louis II tomorrow night for a place in the semi-final.

“I know full well this is a very important game for me, my teammates and the whole club,” said the goalkeeper in a Press conference.

“I think this proves that, if we get past this round, Juve are growing and would place an important marker on a European level to prove – in case anyone had any remaining doubts – that we are back.

“It would therefore help put pressure on opponents and build our own pride.

“Of course I hope to try and win this trophy along with our fans, because it’s missing from my trophy cabinet and has been missing from Juve’s for too long.

“When will we win? I have no idea, but seeing as I’m nearing my use-by date, I’d be happy if it were sooner rather than later!” joked the 37-year-old.

“I’ve been around this tournament for 20 years. At some times I really hoped to win, at others the pressure of hoping had become too much.

“This year we started out aware we could do great things, above all in the Champions League, and in my view the mistakes of last season were still with us. We didn’t want to get the approach wrong again,” he said referring to their group stage exit to Galatasaray.

“Clearly to win a trophy you need a bit of good luck, but they do say fortune favours the brave. It’s early to start flying towards the sun, but we are certainly in a good position. Unfortunately, that’s not enough.”

Monaco have tended to do better away from home than on their own turf in the Champions League this season, so do Juve have a double advantage?

“Seeing as they concede very few goals and score few, I don’t think we’re going to need too many goals tomorrow to secure qualification.

“They have everything needed to get a result, but we are not here to be sacrificial lambs or to see how good Monaco are. We know all this and have self-belief.

“We want to play football and put our qualities to the fore.”

Monaco were furious after the first leg was decided by an Arturo Vidal penalty, as the foul appeared to be outside the box.

Considering the constant controversy in Italy over refereeing decisions, is it the ‘alibi of losers’ in Europe too?

“We didn’t get that impression,” shrugged Buffon. “The way of rationalising what happens on the pitch is very different in Europe to in Italy and so is the way of expressing it.

“It can happen that a person expresses their opinion. It can be constructive if behind it there aren’t other issues that cast shadows or discredit football.

“Of course you can say you were unlucky with a decision that was very difficult, because I challenge anyone to say that in real time they were certain the foul was four centimetres outside the area rather than inside.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector