Buffon and Alves determined to live Champions League dream

Dani Alves spoke of his determination to deliver a dream Champions League title to Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Real Madrid.

Buffon, 39, has failed to land Europe’s biggest club prize in his storied career, while Alves has the experience of three Champions League triumphs – the last coming for Barcelona against Juve in 2015.

Facing the media ahead of the game, Alves does not feel as though his previous experience with Madrid’s Clasico rivals will be a deciding factor, but spoke of the motivation he finds in helping his illustrious colleague capture the only major title to elude him.

Alves said: “I don’t feel more important than any of the other players because I’ve lived moments like this. Moments are only good for the history to write pages and pages. 

“Life has brought me here to this team to try and deliver a dream that for quite a long time now I’ve already had. Unfortunately we haven’t lived this dream yet. 

“I just came to try and share this dream with them, a player as important as Gigi to not have this trophy… it would not change very much in his career as a footballer but I think it would be one more wonderful page added to his football history.

“We need to use this opportunity to make sure that the dream becomes a reality and to make football history.

“To win a trophy with Buffon before he retires – that would be special for me.”

87% – Gigi Buffon has the highest save percentage (87%) among goalkeepers with 2+ appearances in the current Champions League. Shutter. pic.twitter.com/JAPvXPRODc

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) June 2, 2017

The great Buffon smiled as he sat next to Alves and later recounted an exchange between them upon the Brazilian’s arrival in Turin when they began to plot a course to European glory.

“I sent him a text when I heard he signed for Juventus. He’s a bit like me, he’s an optimist and he said ‘yes I will help you win the Champions League’,” Buffon said.

“Until now he has been a revelation for me. Not as a player, we’ve all seen, we’ve all learned what he can do on a pitch. We know him as a footballer but I met him and got to know him and off the pitch there’s a lot more to him than what you see on the pitch.”

Juventus have won the main prize just twice in eight finals, while Madrid are after their 12th European crown, but Buffon sees that as a challenge to meet head on.

Buffon added: “We are confident but we also feel humble because Real Madrid has a certain feeling with finals, they are used to winning finals, we have lost quite a number of finals so perhaps it’s a good match in that sense and we are going to try and overturn our record in history.”