I look back at United’s defeat with a lot of regret – Gigi Buffon

Gianluigi Buffon has admitted he looks back on Paris Saint-Germain’s shock Champions League exit at the hands of Manchester United with ‘a lot of regrets’, and thinks about that famous night in 2019 ‘three or four times a week’.

The French giants held a commanding 2-0 lead from the first leg at Old Trafford, but somehow contrived to lose the second match 3-1 and crashed out on away goals, with Buffon making a huge error which cost the hosts dearly.

Marcus Rashford’s last-minute penalty put Man Utd into the quarter-finals in one of the most dramatic nights in European football history, and while the Red Devils look back on it with great affection, goalkeeper Buffon cannot put the harrowing events out of his mind.

Speaking to L’Equipe, the 42-year-old confessed he reflects on that night at the Parc des Princes often and blames himself for the role he played in PSG’s embarrassing collapse.

“It’s a game I think about at least three or four times a week. It brings up a lot of regrets,” Buffon said.

“I was sure that we would reach the final that season. In Manchester, we won a big game with a great show of force. And unfortunately I blame myself for an incredible mistake. A mistake that, with the experience I have, I should not have made.

“We thought it was a formality and I got carried away. It was as if the match was of little value because we had already won 2-0 in the first leg and they, the poor guys, had two players available and nine youngsters.”

The Juventus goalkeeper went on to claim that now PSG ‘lack nothing’ and they have eradicated the tendency to ‘take things for granted’ from their game.

“PSG lack nothing. They are a great team that can win against anyone. They are one of the few teams that can beat all their opponents.

“If there was a weakness, it was taking some things for granted. But with the arrival of Leonardo, who has an Italian culture, this type of risk has disappeared.”

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