Gianluigi Buffon Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family

On 11 January 2018, Buffon was named to the 2017 UEFA Team of the Year for the fifth time. Buffon returned to action on 30 January 2018, two days after his 40th birthday, keeping a clean sheet and saving a penalty from Alejandro Gómez to secure a 1–0 away win over Atalanta in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals; this was his first Coppa Italia appearance in over five years, while his penalty save was the 30th of his career, excluding those made in shoot-outs, and his first ever in regulation time in the competition. He made his 500th league appearance with Juventus — including both Serie A and Serie B matches — on 9 February, in a 2–0 away win over Fiorentina. After Juventus lost 3–0 to Real Madrid at home in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final on 3 April, Buffon helped Juventus keep a 3–0 away lead in the second leg on 11 April, until the 93rd minute when he was sent off for dissent after a confrontation with referee Michael Oliver who awarded an injury time penalty to Real Madrid; Szczęsny was forced to be substituted in, with the resulting penalty kick converted by Cristiano Ronaldo for a final 4–3 aggregate loss. On 9 May, Buffon kept a clean sheet, his 300th clean sheet with Juventus, and his 383rd at club level, in a 4–0 win over Milan in the 2018 Coppa Italia Final; this was Juventus's fourth consecutive Coppa Italia title. On 11 May, Buffon was charged by UEFA over post-match comments made about referee Oliver. On 13 May, Buffon won his record seventh straight Scudetto, following a 0–0 draw with Roma in Juventus's penultimate match of the season while an unused substitute; with this league victory, he became the first player ever to win nine Serie A titles. On 17 May, with one league match still left, Buffon announced in a press conference that he would leave Juventus at the end of the season. On 19 May, after 17 seasons with the club, Buffon played his 656th and final match with Juventus, the last match of the season at home against Hellas Verona. He started in goal, and was later substituted in the 64th minute by debutant Carlo Pinsoglio as he received a standing ovation with the score 2–0 in favour of Juventus; the match later ended in a 2–1 victory. On 5 June, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body gave Buffon a three-match ban for UEFA competition matches "for which he would be otherwise eligible", after his post-match comments about referee Oliver in the season's Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid. On 30 June, the final day of his Juventus contract, Buffon bid the club farewell with a post on Twitter: