Buffon to meet ‘successor’ in Turin

Juventus will face AC Milan in hopes of climbing back up the Serie A table

MILAN: Champions Juventus host AC Milan in a potentially high-risk fixture on Saturday at Turin that could pit Gianluigi Buffon against teenage sensation Gianluigi Donnarumma widely expected to succeed him as goalkeeper of Italy.

Juventus appear to have put their disastrous start to the campaign behind them but a stubborn nine-point deficit to leaders Fiorentina means they have plenty of ground to make up in the race for the ‘scudetto’.

Yet in a match that will see security tightened significantly in the wake of the Paris terror attacks, all eyes could be on the goalkeepers who, between them, represent the past, present and future of the game in Italy.

Buffon hailed as goalkeeping great, reaches Serie A landmark

Buffon, 37, was feted by his peers on Thursday when he celebrated the 20th anniversary of his Serie A debut with Parma.

It came on November 19, 1995 and on that occasion the 17-year-old produced a performance worthy of ‘keepers twice his age to defy Roberto Baggio, Marco Simone and George Weah as Parma held AC Milan to a scoreless draw.

Whether by design or accident, 20 years later, almost to the day, Buffon will again face Milan. Only this time, when he shakes hands with Donnarumma, fans could be witnessing a virtual passing of the torch.

Donnarumma, 16, made his league debut in a 2-1 win over Sassuolo last month and has kept Spanish veteran Diego Lopez on the bench ever since.

Amid Juve woes: No new replacements for Old Lady

Milan have claimed 10 points from their past four outings to move to within seven points behind La Viola and much of it is down to teenage sensation Donnarumma.

Juventus have doubts over Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic after he hobbled off with an injured ankle against Russia, and strike partner Paulo Dybala was scheduled to return only Thursday from international duty with Argentina.

But Juve’s Spanish striker Alvaro Morata told Juventus’s in-house television channel Jtv: “We’re still hungry for wins and we want to be back at the top of the table where we belong.”

Roma out to maintain Serie A charge

Elsewhere, Roma will make an away trip to Bologna; title chasers Napoli travel to Verona and Fiorentina will host Empoli.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2015.

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