There were 14 minutes on the clock of Paris Saint-Germain’s Ligue 1 match against Guingamp when Marcus Thuram pulled the trigger on what was surely the opening goal of the game. The 19-year-old son of Lilian, however, was to be denied by an exceptional piece of goalkeeping from one of his father’s old team-mates.
In stopping the apparently inevitable strike by turning the ball onto the bar, 40-year-old Gianluigi Buffon showed that he very much still has the capabilities to be exceptional.
That stop seemed to have dealt a decisive blow to the hopes of Alphonse Areola of seeing much action for the remainder of the season.
The PSG youth academy product, now 25, had worked hard to earn his starting berth last term after loan spells with Lens, Bastia and Villarreal, but while away with the France squad at Russia 2018, he received the news that Buffon had postponed his retirement to offer competition in the French capital.
When the deal was announced, it seemed that Buffon was arriving as the undisputed No.1. While Areola had performed robustly last term, he was not spectacular, and the impending arrival of the finest keeper in generations apparently spelt the end of his hopes of regular action.
“I know what dreams PSG and its fans have in their hearts,” Buffon said when he joined up with the team in the summer, aware that he possesses the same burning desire as all involved with the Parisian club: to win the Champions League.
“I am going to bring all my energy, all my experience and all of my thirst to win to help my new club achieve all the great objectives it has set out for the future.
“For the first time in my career, I am leaving my country and only a project this ambitious could have encouraged me to make such a decision.”
Had he known he was going to face a battle to play regularly, the nine-time Serie A winner might have considered differently.
Nevertheless, a shutout against Caen and his strong display against Guingamp seemed to simply confirm his position as his club’s No.1.
Only, the 2006 World Cup winner was a signing enforced on Tuchel from the board, a universally adored player drafted in to further the reputation of the club with football lovers all over the planet.
This was tacitly admitted by the former Dortmund boss last week: “I told Alphonse before Buffon arrive that he would be No.1.”
The Italian’s arrival, however, changed things.
“We have to be smart and find a solution,” Tuchel said. “Both are in top form. You have to get used to the fact that there is no No.1.”
Those words will not please either custodian, yet they are of greater comfort to Areola, who is the man in possession of the jersey and certainly will be at Anfield as Buffon serves out the first of a three-game suspension following his explosion at referee Michael Oliver during Juventus’ quarter-final exit against Real Madrid last season.
🇫🇷Une victoire laborieuse mais déterminante
🇬🇧A difficult but fundamental win
He will travel with the squad – symbolic of the experience he can lend on such big European nights – but his place will be in the Anfield stands.
Indeed, it was likely this suspension that meant Areola was fast tracked back into the team for PSG’s previous three league matches, with the importance of having him match ready for a testing fixture paramount. Since then he has not missed a beat, performing strongly against Angers and Nimes, then shutting out Saint-Etienne on a quiet evening on Friday.
Sandwiching those fixtures was another eye-catching display against Germany in the Nations League – his France debut. On a Munich night in which the world champions were flat, their rookie goalkeeper made a string of fine saves to stave off an assault from the hosts, notably producing a brilliant diving stop to thwart Mathias Ginter from close range.
It was a performance that elevated him into serious contention for the No.1 role on a full-time basis, potentially leapfrogging the injured Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda in one stunning 90-minute display.
“His size, his ball-playing qualities, his calmness – he’s the keeper most adapted to playing in the way of the team,” renowned Chelsea goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon eulogised about him, saying that even before the Germany match he should have been more highly rated.
While Lollichon was speaking about Areola’s performances with France, he could just as easily have being doing so back at Parc des Princes.
In the meantime, Tuchel was busy confirming that the local boy was indeed in “pole position” for the No.1 role back in his hometown.
It is a situation that cannot sit well with his Italian counterpart.
Speaking to France Football in August, Buffon said that he is “an animal for competition” and “likes to put himself in danger”. In moving to PSG, he has perhaps inadvertently done that to a greater extent than he might have imagined.
And so he faces what may be his last great challenge of his career; to prove himself one last time rather than be pushed into retirement via an obscure role on the PSG bench.
