Cristiano Ronaldo can't resist comment to Gianluigi Buffon during Champions League draw
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianluigi Buffon were both involved in this year's Champions League draw and the Real Madrid legend took the chance to make a joke at the iconic keeper's expense
Cristiano Ronaldo has apologised to Gianluigi Buffon for scoring a famous bicycle kick against him in 2018.
The two football superstars were involved in the draw for this year's Champions League 'League' phase on Thursday evening. Buffon drew each team from their pot, while Ronaldo hit the button which saw UEFA's computer come up with their opponents.
The duo previously played alongside each other at Juventus, winning a domestic double in 2020. Before linking up, they long had a rivalry, especially during Ronaldo's time at Real Madrid.
Famously, their two teams came up against each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Champions League. The first leg was held in Turin, with Madrid winning that game 3-0, thanks to a wondergoal from Ronaldo.
READ MORE: Sky Sports fans can save £216 on their bill, here's three other reasons you'll want to pick itREAD MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo labelled 'b*****d' by Rio Ferdinand for thinly-veiled swipe at PeleJust after the hour mark of that game, Dani Carvajal sent in a cross towards Ronaldo. The forward soared into the air to send a flying acrobatic kick past Buffon, who was left completley stranded.
Juventus fans even stood to applaud what was one of the great Champions League goals. Now, Ronaldo has jokingly apologised to Buffon for the strike, which has gone down in history.
After Buffon drew Juventus out of the pot, UEFA host Pedro Pinto made a comment about Ronaldo's scoring record against the Italian keeper. Buffon replied: "Every match."
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Fellow host Reshmin Chowdhury then began talking about Ronaldo's bicyle kick, with the Portugal captain apologising in Italian. He said: "Scusa Gigi, Scusa." Buffon then revealed: "He asked me sorry after the last match between Madrid and Juventus."
Ronaldo concluded: "Respect." Madrid would squeak past Juve after losing the second leg 3-1, before going on to win that year's title after comfortably beating Liverpool in the final.
Buffon has previously opened up about the moments following Ronaldo's wondergoal. Back in 2019, the Italian legend revealed that he shared a joke with the then-Madrid star immediately after conceding.
"After about 25 seconds of normal frustration over the goal I conceded, I thought about what he had done to me, something really great," Buffon said. "I asked him, 'Cristiano, how old are you?' and he told me, 'not bad for a 33-year-old, right?'
"In the end we both laughed. At the end of my career, I had the chance to play with Cristiano and that's an extra point. It's hard to improve if you don't play with the best and I wanted to add him to the list of the great champions I've played with."
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