As he climbed into his yellow Porsche sports car, Juventus goalkeeper Gigi Buffon gave the impression of a young man in a hurry. However, the world's most expensive goalkeeper and the man who will keep goal for Juventus in their Champions League clash with Celtic tonight is someone not only with a taste for fast cars but also a thirst for footballing success.
Bought from Parma for £30 million this summer, Italy's number one goalkeeper admitted last week that he had been "surprised" by his move but yet delighted that his eventual destination had been the "Old Lady" of Italian soccer, Juventus.
Speaking after training at the old Stadio Communale in Turin last week, Buffon told The Irish Times: "To tell you the truth, I didn't even think I would be moving from Parma this year but then things changed and my transfer came about in a very short time. Clearly, if I had to leave Parma, then I was going to go to a big team, either to Juventus or (AC) Milan.
"I've had no problem settling down here because my main reason for moving from Parma was to win something, to face new challenges and collect new triumphs. Everything else is subordinate and secondary to that."
When Buffon speaks of new "challenges" and "triumphs", it is not hard to guess what he means. He is talking Champions League and Serie A. Notwithstanding an excellent record in recent seasons which saw them win Italian and UEFA Cups, Parma have never really done the business in either the Champions League or Serie A.
Buffon's move to Juventus appears to have come at just the right moment. Even though they sold French wizard Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid, Juventus look stronger, more competitive and hungrier than ever. Zidane was replaced by a top-class quartet that featured Buffon, his Parma team-mate and French international Lilian Thuram, Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved and Chilean striker Marcelo Salas.
Although Nedved is ruled out tonight, Salas and Thuram will line out in a Juventus team that looks all the stronger for the return of Dutchman Edgar Davids, back after a five-month ban following a positive test for the banned drug nandrolone.
Alessandro Del Piero also appears to have rediscovered the sort of form he last showed three seasons ago. And Juventus appear to have added the final plank in their winning platform with the recall of Marcello Lippi, their successful coach of the mid-1990s.
Lest anyone had failed to notice the brave new shape of things in Turin, Juventus have already underlined the point by winning their opening three league games to lead Serie A. For Buffon, such a bright seasonal start is "normal".
"This is a club where they take things one day at a time, game by game. This is a good group of players. We're not worried by any team, we've plenty of respect for everybody, but, in the end, probably it's our opponents who are more worried by us."
What does he know about tonight's opponents? "Celtic have just returned to the top again and if you look at the players they have and the fact that they eliminated Ajax in the qualifying round, then it means they are a good team. Clearly, (Henrik) Larsson is a good player. I saw him at the European Championships last season and he was obviously useful."
To a certain extent, Buffon and Juventus go into tonight's tie as standard bearers for Italian soccer. Humiliated by European whitewashes in the last two seasons, Italian football has taken up this season where it left off last year, with Parma eliminated by French club Lille in the qualifying round. Both Lazio and AS Roma were beaten by, respectively, Galatasaray and Real Madrid, in their opening Champions League games last week.
The new-look Juventus, with its new coach and new players, however, may prove a rather more serious obstacle than their two Roman rivals. Buffon, who had a less than happy time in Juve's 3-2 win against little Chievo on Saturday night, may ironically be less busy tonight.
