OMNISPORT

Juventus' veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon dedicated his new Serie A record to his team-mates after his run of 10 clean sheets came to an end in a 4-1 defeat of local rivals Torino.

Buffon was beaten by an Andrea Belotti penalty after 973 minutes without conceding a goal, breaking Sebastiano Rossi's 22-year-old record of 929 minutes.

Paul Pogba and Sami Khedira - who was sent off late on - were both on target for Juve while Alvaro Morata added a brace in a comfortable win. 

The 38-year-old revealed that he almost skipped the Torino match, which saw Juve bounce back from their Champions League elimination at the hands of Bayern Munich in style, due to feeling unwell.

"This morning I had a bit of a temperature and didn't wake up feeling good, but I couldn't miss this game," Buffon told Mediaset Premium.

"Once the four minutes had passed and the record was broken, I was mainly focused on the game and ensuring we recovered from the heavy blow in Munich.

"I am happy to play in this team and the record belongs to Juventus, not me. 

"I was also fortunate to achieve it, because my teammates stopped the opposition from creating chances. They worked their socks off to block every avenue and protect me."

Buffon added that he only recently started to think about breaking Rossi's record despite the media attention.

"I started to think we could break this record in Bergamo against Atalanta, two Sundays ago. You kept asking me about it in interviews after three or four games that I hadn't conceded, as if that was somehow odd," Italy's most capped player joked.

"In all honesty, I didn't think about individual records, as I always saw myself as a team man, but then I realised it's wonderful too.

"It's a reward because the more you think about the team, the more you are likely to get rewarded as an individual.

"At the age of 38 I still think I can express myself at a high level and that is thanks to my family, everyone from my parents and sisters to partner and children.

"When you are happy in your home life, you can push yourself further professionally."