Buffon happy with classy Juve

Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon was pleased with his side’s performance in their 2-1 Serie A win over Chievo on Sunday.

Alessandro Matri and Stephan Lichtsteiner bagged first-half goals for Juve, who withstood a Chievo fight-back in the second half to claim an important victory.

The win saw the Turin-based club remain three points clear at the top of the league, while Lazio and Inter Milan – third and fourth respectively – both lost.

Although Napoli are just one win behind Juventus, Buffon’s side are already nine points clear of Lazio and 12 of Inter.

The goalkeeper was happy with the victory, which was the club’s first in four matches in all competitions.

“We were good because we managed the game well,” Buffon said.

“We weren’t too worried that we had to win at any cost from the first minute, but instead preferred to play our game. We had good possession.

“We didn’t give them much, both in the first and second half and we created some important chances to close the match.”

“Even if it was only by one goal…we beat them.”

New signing Nicolas Anelka was an unused substitute in the victory.

But the Frenchman – who counts PSG, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea among his former clubs – is sure to make an impact after arriving from Chinese Super League outfit Shanghai Shenhua.

Buffon is looking forward to Anelka’s contributions and believes he could be a big player in the club’s title run-in.

“(Nicolas) Anelka has great qualities and experience, because he’s a player used to important events,” he said.

“He also has enthusiasm because when a player leaves Europe for one or more years as he did and he then has the chance to come back and play for a top team like Juventus it could be a great challenge for him. He could be very helpful here.”