During the first episode of the “PHENOMENA” column, available on the Prime Video Sport YouTube channel, Luca Toni he was a guest at the house of Gianluigi Buffon to retrace with him the most important moments of the career of one of the strongest goalkeepers in the history of football and to make a tier list. Among these there are several episodes in which Buffon wore the cross jersey, such as when in the 97/98 season the former yellow-blue goalkeeper, after having saved a penalty from Ronaldo “Il Fenomeno”, went to celebrate with the fans even though the ball was still at play: “I was exuberant, I wasn’t afraid of anything, I felt unbeatable. I played like a fan and I perfectly understood when was the moment when I could indulge in excesses. I was crazy, but in that Parma there we were full. There was lots of people with great personalities who left their mark on the days.”
Buffon he then recalled the coaches who passed through Parma during his crusade experience: “Nevio Scala, who gave me my debut, Ancelotti, Malesani. Ancelotti when he arrived was incredible, also for the confidence he gave us; we were accustomed to Nevio Scala who almost had to be addressed as you, it’s clear that I had the first Ancelotti after the promotion to Serie A with Reggiana, from a footballing point of view 4-4-2, so much so that he had problems with Zola who had to leave, and they couldn’t bring in Baggio because he couldn’t play in the 4-4-2; but it was already clear at the time that he had something He was a special man and coach. With him we went to play a Scudetto in Turin with Juve on the penultimate matchday with 11 players plus 5 others all from the Primavera.”
Buffon he then ended up talking about the UEFA Cup victory of 98/99: “We were a team with players who came from enormous backgrounds and experiences, with a specific global weight. This team could have won the scudetto, but I think we players weren’t ready , we were a very young team, but if you caught us on the day you got the “wash” and went home”. Luca Toni then proposed a comparison between that Parma defense, with Buffon, Thuram, Cannavaro, Torrisi and Sensini, and the Juventus defense known as BBC, with Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini. This is Buffon’s comment: “I can’t go into detail about the individual players because the value of each player is different and depends on taste, but I say that Juve’s characteristics were perfect because they were all complementary.”
