Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has said he is hoping to avoid being drawn against Leicester City in the next round of the UEFA Champions League.
The English champions miraculously secured their progression to the quarter-finals of the competition on Tuesday evening with an emphatic 2-0 victory over Sevilla. Buffon and his Juventus outfit also earned their last-eight place with a 3-0 aggregate win over FC Porto at the Juventus Stadium.
Dangerous and passionate, says Buffon
The draw for the final eight will be completed on Friday morning and the veteran stopper is hoping not to be partnered with the Foxes. The 39-year-old stated that Craig Shakespeare's men are "a dangerous and passionate team who can cause trouble for opponents," so would like to avoid the reigning champions.
This proved to be correct as goals from Wes Morgan and Marc Albrighton on Tuesday night blew Leicester's last-16 opponents, Sevilla, away as the home side ran-out 3-2 victors on aggregate at the King Power Stadium.
Buffon continued to say that the Old Lady will come up against a major test against the East-Midlanders who came top of their group in the first round ahead of two-time winners FC Porto. He said: "Against them [Leicester], we would have everything to lose."
Experience?
Buffon, who has made 146 appearances in European competitions throughout his 22-year-long career, knows all about the role of the underdog having reached the final two years ago in which his team lost out to Barcelona.
Nonetheless, Buffon will surely have distinct memories of a 5-4 aggregate defeat to Fulham in the Europa League in 2010 so will hope to avoid a similar tale this time around if Juventus and Leicester are drawn together in the quarter-finals.