Azzurri legend Gianluigi Buffon spoke with Tuttosport about his new role head of delegation of the Italian national team: ‘Returning to German stadiums will have an effect on me.’ The 45-year-old retired from playing football earlier this year and was appointed to his new role almost immediately. Speaking with Tuttosport, he explained what the experience has been like so far and also weighed in on the title race, and the chances of former team Juventus:
“Returning to German stadiums will have an effect on me. Just think that the first one will be in Dortmund, where I have only good memories between Juve, Parma and the national team. I’ll also enjoy them because I’ll have less pre-match tension”
“Let’s be careful of Albania, they are a team to be taken with caution. Also because it’s the first match. The first matches in these events are always a bit delicate and nervous. But I believe that with everything Spalletti and his staff are working on, if it is received well by the lads, the only worry will be the condition in which we will arrive at the European Championship”.
“Spalletti is an atypical coach, he has his own characteristics: he likes to be a credible person, he’s in the middle of the group, he ensures there is discipline and he always looks for consistency between what he says and does. We’ve known each other since time immemorial, but never up close, now it’s nice to be next to him.”
“Donnarumma? I see a certain pleasure when one of his mistakes can be pointed out. The Germans have a word for the moment of enjoyment you feel when things go wrong for others: schadenfreude. Here I think Gigio suffers a lot, but he is a structured player and has already overcome these moments many times.”
“The influence of Giancluca Vialli? Don’t throw time away. Life is an opportunity and since we have this luck, we must try to make the most of it until the last day.”
“Allegri? He is criticised because he comes from two years in which Juve has been through a lot. Sometimes I think of the happiness of the Juve world when he came back. But when you start again you need time. These two years have allowed him to make some choices, to skim the group and maybe build to get to victory in a year or two’.
“The Scudetto? An Illusion – Of course, it must not be a goal that takes your sleep away at night, but it must be ‘a’ goal. That must be desire and determination to move the limit for each team.”
