The Milestone Man: Buffon´s 1,000 games in Opta numbers

Gianluigi Buffon celebrates a remarkable milestone on Friday as the legendary goalkeeper makes his 1,000th appearance for club and country.

The Juventus and Italy keeper reaches the landmark as the Azzurri face Albania in a World Cup qualifier in Palermo.

Having made his senior club debut for Parma in 1995, Buffon is still performing at the highest level 22 years later, at the age of 39.

His storied career has seen him win seven Serie A titles with Juve, as well as one UEFA Cup triumph with Parma and, the biggest prize of them all, the World Cup with his country in Germany in 2006.

Promising AC Milan youngster Gianluigi Donnarumma is being widely tipped to take over from Buffon when the veteran eventually packs away his gloves for good, but there seems no imminent sign of the iconic number one calling it a day while he is still producing outstanding displays for Juve and Italy.

Using Opta data, we take a look at some of the numbers behind Buffon’s glittering career.

Gli 11 #Azzurri in capocentro l’#Albania
20.45 #ItaliaAlbania  a #Palermo per le qualificazioni al #Mondiale2018
 #RaiUno#Nazionale pic.twitter.com/8hyMjU6WGB

— Nazionale Italiana (@Vivo_Azzurro) 24 March 2017

1000 – Gianluigi #Buffon plays tonight his 1000th game for club and Italian National team. Myth. #Buffon1000 #ITAALB pic.twitter.com/scQPOTDW4p

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) March 24, 2017

168 – Buffon’s appearance against Albania is his 168th for Italy, more than any other player.

614 – The goalkeeper is third on the list of all-time Serie A appearance makers. He is just one behind Inter legend Javier Zanetti, while AC Milan hero Paolo Maldini leads the way with 647.

3 – Along with Maldini and Andrea Pirlo, Buffon is one of three Italian players with more than 100 Champions League appearances (103).

7 – His seven Serie A titles are the most by any player in his position.

17 – Buffon’s 17 appearances at European Championship finals are the most of any goalkeeper.

973 – Between January and March last year, Buffon went 973 minutes without conceding a goal in Serie A – the longest such streak in the Italian top flight.

23 – Buffon has saved 23 penalties in his career (excluding shootouts), including two in one match against Borussia Dortmund for Parma in the Champions League in November 1997.

425 – His 999 prior matches have produced 425 clean sheets.

828 – Buffon has conceded 828 goals in his career, at a rate of 0.83 per game.