Matthijs de Ligt looks with admiration at some of his teammates at Juventus. The defender has special respect for Gianluigi Buffon and says regularly to ask for advice from Cristiano Ronaldo. For De Ligt, Buffon is not only a teacher, but in the eyes of the former Ajax player could even have been his father. De Ligt is working on a strong second season at Juventus, but on Tuesday evening he has to pass up the return match in the Champions League against FC Porto.
Buffon knows the ropes and is at least 21 years older than De Ligt at 43 years old. The routine is in his fifteenth season with the current number three of the Serie A. “Buffon could have been my father”, De Ligt tells in conversation with The Telegraph. “It’s funny, because you don’t expect the way he behaves from someone twice my age. It shows why he’s still playing. He’s only 29 in his head.”
Since his transition in 2019, De Ligt has been a permanent member of the team of successively Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo. With that, he is doing significantly better than Aaron Ramsey, who also arrived in 2019, with whom he had a good click from the first moment. “Maybe it was I who helped him settle in Turin. I learned Italian before he started learning the language. We helped each other in that.”
The choice for Juventus has not yet given De Ligt any feelings of regret. He draws the comparison with a school subject. “Just like with math, I compared pros and cons when choosing my new club. In the end I chose Juventus. If you can defend well in Italy, you can do it anywhere. This is the place where I can learn the most from. players like Leonardo Bonucci, Buffon and Ronaldo. I watch what Cristiano is doing and ask him for advice. How to stay fit. “
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