Buffon breaks Maldini's Serie A appearances record
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon broke Paolo Maldini's Serie A appearance record on Sunday (AEST) after he was selected to play a 648th top-flight game in the derby against Torino.
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The veteran former Italy number one kept his place in the side, with Wojciech Szczesny named on the bench at Allianz Stadium, as Juve ran out a 4-1 winner thanks to goals from Paulo Dybala, Cristiano Ronaldo and Juan Cuadrado, plus an own-goal from the visitors.
Buffon, 41, was an Italy team-mate of former Milan defender Maldini, who retired in 2009 at the age of 40.
Buffon's Serie A debut came for Parma in 1995 when he shut out Milan in a 0-0 draw against the team that would go on to win the title.
He went on to join Juve in 2001 in a £32.6 million ($58.6 million) deal, making him the world’s most expensive goalkeeper.
It proved to be money well invested as he spent 17 years in a first spell with the Turin giant, staying at the club after relegation amid Italian football's Calciopoli scandal and helping Juventus reel off seven successive Scudetti before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain in 2018.
After a year in France, Buffon returned to Juventus last July, competing with Szczesny for the starting role in Maurizio Sarri's team since then.
At the end of June, Buffon signed new a contract to keep him at Juve for at least another year.