CL: Juventus can beat Real Madrid in double header, says Gianluigi Buffon

Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon celebrates his team's victory over English side Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League last-16 second leg at London recently. Pic/AFP

Gianluigi Buffon feels that Juventus were overconfident prior to last season's Champions League final against Real Madrid and hopes they can avoid making the same mistake when they meet the Spanish side in this year's competition.

The Italian goalkeeper, 40, has never won the European Cup in his distinguished career but came as close as ever nearly 12 months ago as Madrid defeated them 3-1 in the final in Cardiff.

The Italian side had impressed in the build up to that match, but the veteran 'keeper feels that his side may have been too cocky. Over the next fortnight, the teams square off again and he is determined to avoid the same errors. "We went to Cardiff with a lot of confidence - maybe too much - and that might be the first and most serious mistake we made in that final," he said. "But we shouldn't blame ourselves: they deserved to win as they proved to be the stronger team on the field.

"The best team won, but we weren't that bad to be beaten so heavily. There are moments in these matches when luck smiles on you and on that day it did not help us. I hope that we can find the weapons to make the match more balanced this time.

"We have to set up with our best qualities on the field, which is what our coach will try to do." Buffon prefers to play Madrid over two legs than one but denies that his side are "unbeatable" in a double-header format. "I always thought it would be better to play them twice than in a single game," he said.

"I realised that in 180, minutes we beat Barcelona and in 90 we lost to Madrid. I don't know if we're unbeatable, but we're a difficult team for anyone to face and I hope we can prove it."

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