'I played against Ronaldo and Messi – this is the one player who gave me sleepless nights'
Former Juventus and Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci has named the player who used to give him nightmares, and it is not one you may have expected to hear
Leonardo Bonucci has named the toughest player he's ever faced - and it's surprisingly not Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.
The ex-Juventus star and Italian Euro 2020 hero called time on his glittering career earlier this year at 37, after a final stint in Turkey with Fenerbahce - marking the end of a journey that lasted almost two decades and saw him bag a stunning nine Italian league titles.
Throughout his time, Bonucci went toe-to-toe with some of Europe's deadliest strikers, including the legendary Messi and his former colleague in Turin, Ronaldo. But, when pressed on who liked to tussle with the least, Bonucci opted not to go with either of the two world-beaters, instead surprisingly citing Serie A stalwart Duvan Zapata as the player who kept him up at night.
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"My nightmare, who didn't make me sleep at night, was Zapata," Bonucci told Sky Italia. "God, before games against his Atalanta side, I couldn't sleep at night. His power and physicality made him my nightmare.
"Then, I was lucky enough to play against so many champions. Drogba, Ronaldo, Messi, Torres, and I forget others, but it was too good."
Colombian ace Zapata, 33, has been tearing up Serie A since 2013, initially arriving at Napoli after leaving Argentinian outfit Estudiantes.
After a few lacklustre loan spells at Udinese and Sampdoria, and a transfer to the latter, it was at Atalanta where, as Bonucci attests, Zapata truly hit his stride.
An initial two-year loan morphed into a permanent stay in 2020 after Zapata notched his teams first-ever Champions League goal. He eventually racked up almost 200 games and 82 goals in northern Italy, and last year, David Moyes' West Ham supposedly had their eyes on him before negotiations collapsed.
Standing a towering 6ft2in and renowned for his pacey, powerful play, Zapata flirted with a 20-goal league campaign on numerous occasions - hitting it once - but finally waved Atalanta goodbye this summer, making his loan stint at Torino from last season a full-time affair, reports the Mirror. Torino's new captain tragically, though, suffered an ACL injury over the weekend which rules him out of he remainder of the 2024/25 season.
Meanwhile, Bonucci's decision to gloss over Ronaldo may have been influenced by the Italian's past comments - that have not been entirely complimentary of his former peer. Despite dubbing him 'the best player in the world,' Bonucci believes the Portuguese might've cast a slightly grim shadow over The Old Lady.
"Ronaldo's presence had a big influence on us," Bonucci told The Athletic. "Just training with him gave us something extra, but subconsciously, players started to think his presence alone was enough to win games.
"We began to fall a little short in our daily work, the humility, the sacrifice, the desire to be there for your teammates day after day. Over the last few years, I think you could see that."
Yet, Juventus clinched back-to-back league titles and racked up a collection of domestic cups with Ronaldo in the squad, and despite any off-pitch chemistry woes, Bonucci acknowledges the talent he played alongside.
"We missed that," Bonucci added. "Maybe it was taken for granted that if we gave the ball to Ronaldo, then he'd win us the game. But Ronaldo needed the team as much as we needed him. There had to be a trade-off because it's the team that lifts the individual even if the individual is the best player on the planet."