“Deserved five Ballon d’Ors” Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon snubs Cristiano Ronaldo to name Neymar Jr. as BEST player he’s ever played with

Gianluigi Buffon believes that it should have been Neymar Jr. to bag five Ballon d'Ors for his incredible showdowns during his heydays.

“Deserved five Ballon d’Ors” Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon snubs Cristiano Ronaldo to name Neymar Jr. as BEST player he’s ever played with

Gianluigi Buffon, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, image courtesy: X

World Cup winner Gianluigi Buffon has played with and against several stars of the game during his prolonged and illustrious career. The ex-Italy skipper has shared the dressing room with the iconic likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., and Zinedine Zidane. He has also lined up against the mighty Lionel Messi, making it a career worth of endless memories.

Gianluigi Buffon, who hung up his gloves in 2023, has achieved a boatload of laurels during his days as a custodian. He now keeps a keen eye on the footballing affairs of the world while also sharing his opinion about the players whom he has played with and against. In one such recent piece of his mind, he said that Neymar Jr. deserved bigger greatness than what he has received until now while snubbing the likes of Messi and Ronaldo.

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I played with three generations, how can I choose? Zidane, Ronaldo, Messi, CR7, [Andres] Iniesta… But if I have to pick one I’d say Neymar. For the player and the boy he is, he should have won five Ballons d’Or!

Gianluigi Buffon said to Corriere della Sera

Buffon spent a season with Neymar Jr. at Paris Saint-Germain in 2018-19. Following his season in Paris, he returned to Juventus, where he shared the dressing room with Cristiano Ronaldo. After his stint with Juventus, he moved to Parma Calcio for three seasons before he decided to call it a day in his glorious career.

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In the same interview given by Buffon, he also revealed that he had a chance to play alongside Lionel Messi at Barcelona. He was definitely fascinated to share the dressing room with the greats of the game. However, when he was mulling over the move to Catalonia while driving on one of the days, he heard a song called “Bella” which reminded him of his roots. 

Gianluigi Buffon
Gianluigi Buffon and Andres Iniesta, image courtesy: X

Alongside that, on that very drive he saw the Parma sign on the road, which entrenched his belief that if he was going somewhere, it had to be the Italian club. During his playing days, Buffon scaled multiple heights. He became the first-ever goalkeeper in men’s association football to claim 500 clean sheets. Apart from that, he also clinched 10 Serie A titles, which is the highest by any individual. 

He also appeared in 657 Serie A matches, which is the highest number of matches that an individual has appeared in. Buffon happens to be the goalkeeper who went the highest number of minutes in Serie A, which is 974 minutes, without conceding a solitary goal.