Gianluigi Buffon name checks Chelsea legend as “one of the best ever” | OneFootball

Gianluigi Buffon is still playing football, for Parma in Serie B, and this week he was on a top Italian football show talking about the best players he’s ever played with.

He reeled off a who’s who of top Italian players – Pirlo, Totti, Baggio etc., but when it came to goalkeepers, there was only one who he name checked – Chelsea legend Petr Cech.

“I don’t like these things. I know sport and football very well, I think I’ve faced many strong goalkeepers, many didn’t have the same luck I had, so they can’t be judged similarly. Petr Cech was really strong, one of the best ever,” Buffon responded when asked whether he himself was the best keeper ever.

Chelsea fans who saw Cech at his best wouldn’t disagree. He had everything a keeper needed, and his rivalry with Man U keeper Edwin Van Sar through the latter half of the 2000s saw them both drive each other on to become two of the very best.

Cech also ended up winning the Champions League with a vital contribution in the final, sealing his status as a Chelsea (and football) legend. Buffon was clearly watching.