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Gianluigi Buffon Brilliantly Sums Up Cristiano Ronaldo's New Playing Style

Gianluigi Buffon Brilliantly Sums Up Cristiano Ronaldo's New Playing Style

The Italian stopper comes up against the Real Madrid star, next week.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

Gianluigi Buffon has hit the nail on the head about the change in Cristiano Ronaldo's game.

After turning 33-years-old last month, the Portuguese international is adapting his style to his age.

Nowadays, Ronaldo limits his dazzling dribbling to concentrate on being inside the box. From a speedy winger to a predatory striker.

His goal tally suggests that.

He's already bagged 22 goals in the La Liga, and a further 12 in the Champions League including an instinctive strike off his knee against Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the previous round.

Ronaldo celebrates scoring against PSG. Image: PA
Ronaldo celebrates scoring against PSG. Image: PA

And ahead of resuming their European campaign against Juventus, Buffon has hailed Ronaldo's ability to switch his approach.

"Over time [Ronaldo] has learned how to improve himself as an athlete. As a player, he spends less energy with respect to what he did previously," he told Spanish outlet Marca.

Buffon celebrates securing passage to the next round of the Champions League. Image: PA
Buffon celebrates securing passage to the next round of the Champions League. Image: PA

Buffon added: "I admire him a lot because he is a pragmatic person, lucid in everything he does and what he says.

"I think that in recent years he has shown that he is very intelligent, because he has changed his way of playing.

"He is also lethal, everything he does is at 100 percent and in front of the goal he is an assassin.

Assassin. Well said, Gigi.

Buffon and Casillas embrace. Image: PA
Buffon and Casillas embrace. Image: PA

As well as Ronaldo, Buffon also lavished praise on former Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas and Arsenal stopper Petr Cech.

"Casillas, Cech and I have been three goalkeepers to have played for a very long time, from football's past and also a bit of football's modern era," he added.

"This means that the praise given to Casillas is correct and deserved."

Not long now till Ronaldo and Buffon grace the same pitch in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Real Madrid or Juventus - who do you fancy? Let us know in the comment section below.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football News, Football, Juventus, Buffon, Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Darren Till, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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