Paulo Dybala (left) of Juventus vies for the ball with Sassuolo’s Francesco Magnanelli in their Italian League match at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on Friday. The hosts won 1-0. — AP
Paulo Dybala (left) of Juventus vies for the ball with Sassuolo’s Francesco Magnanelli in their Italian League match at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on Friday. The hosts won 1-0. — AP
Beaten finalists Juventus warmed up for a crucial Champions League date at Bayern Munich with a precious 1-0 win over Sassuolo that saw veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and striker Paulo Dybala star in Turin.
The win moved Juventus six points clear of scudetto rivals Napoli ahead of their trip to Palermo on Sunday, kept the Old Lady unbeaten for 19 games.
Days before seeing their Champions League fate decided, Buffon and Dybala reached milestones.
But although the Argentine’s 14th goal of the season saw him overtake his previous best of 13 last year with Palermo, it paled in comparison to Buffon’s achievement.
If Juve are marching confidently towards equalling their 1935 record of five consecutive titles, much of it is down to the 38-year-old Italy veteran, who has kept a clean sheet over 10 games to put another career-defining record within his grasp.
Already considered one of the world’s greatest ever goalkeepers, Buffon’s status in his native Italy was cemented with a performance that saw him overtake the legendary Dino Zoff’s 903-minute unbeaten tally in the league at the 67th minute mark.
Buffon is now unbeaten in Serie ‘A’ for 926 minutes of football, and is just four away from overtaking Sebastiano Rossi’s all-time record of 929 minutes for AC Milan in 1994.
