Gianluigi Buffon is an absolute gent.
You probably knew that already, but if you didn't, a lovely moment at the end of Saturday night's Serie A clash between Juventus and AC Milan, in which The Old Lady ran out 1-0 winners, would have proven that point.
AC Milan started 16 year old Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma between the sticks, as they have done in recent weeks with the young lad showing excellent potential through performances usually far beyond someone of such a tender age, and of course the young keeper has drawn comparisons to Buffon in doing so.
The first name, the similarities in style, and the fact that he's starting in Serie A so young have been the reason for those comparisons, as well as Donnarumma publicly stating that Buffon was his hero, so it was great to see Buffon actively seek out the youngster, give him a big hug, some words of encouragement, and swap shirts after the final whistle.
Classy. And they say never meet your heroes? Donnarumma will have been elated after that.
Buffon is a man who will be sorely missed when he hangs up his boots, although the Italians do appear to have a ready-made replacement to step in when that does happen.
Side note: The size of that lad at 16. Ridiculous.
