Real Madrid 1-3 Juventus: 5 Talking Points

Modified Apr 11, 2018 21:54 GMT

All rise and bow to the king

#2 The Gianluigi Buffon anticlimax and the missing case of Gonzalo Higuain

Buffon lost it after the ref pointed to the spot in the 93rd minute

Gianluigi Buffon was immense on the night as he stayed on top of his game through the length of the 90 minutes. His sending off was well warranted as he did shove the referee from the back in frustration of his European dream washing off the shore like a wave but his performance on the night was weaved in vintage Buffon fabric.

He pulled out one great save after the other as he kept denying Cristiano Ronaldo and co. the one goal they could have got to tilt the odds in their favour. However, it all came undone as he lost his cool after Benatia crashed into Lucas Vazquez from behind, inside the box, in the last minute of the game and the less that's said of it, the better.

As for Gonzalo Higuain, he did what he does best in big games... go missing. For all the industry and effectiveness Juventus brought on display in the final third, Gonzalo Higuain contributed the bare minimum and was once again nowhere near the top of his game. He has once again failed to rise to the occasion and if Jorge Sampaoli is watching, he better get Mauro Icardi's number and give that lad a call.

Or Argentina could just brace themselves to watch Lionel Messi cry once again.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

Know More

Edited by Amit Mishra