Top 10 Goalkeepers in Football during the 2017-18 Season

#3 Gianluigi Buffon - Juventus

SSC Napoli v Juventus - Serie A

There are some miracles you simply don’t ask in football. To ask for Gianluigi Buffon to end his career lifting the World Cup aloft for Italy in 2018 was simply too much. To ask for him to replicate his stunning 2016 would have been too much as well. Too much? Nope.

Gianluigi Buffon.This is what you get when you cross a great shot stopper with a mean defence. Crazily low totals of goals conceded each year.(For those asking; PostShotxG is the total xG value of all on target shots, it includes the shot location as well as shot placement) pic.twitter.com/QOhyDgVAuk

— Colin Trainor (@colintrainor) December 31, 2017

I’ll refrain from the cliched comparison of Buffon to a fine wine - simply because the harsh truth is that one can visibly see the reflexes dimming of late. Gigi is still capable of the stunning save (cast your mind back to the one against Andres Iniesta), but the fire within him seems to have dimmed ever since the heartbreak that was Italy vs Sweden.

The Italian veteran can still defy time - but only for so long. Wojciech Szczesny is making far more appearances in the Juventus goal than expected. Gianluigi Buffon was Sportskeeda's Best Goalkeeper of 2016 - but that reign has come to an end, and in all probability, will never happen again.

Still, we can but only thank him for being the best in the world for decades. Grazie, Gigi.