'I'm ashamed!' - Gianluigi Buffon opens up on infamous Michael Oliver referee attack during Juventus' 2018 defeat to Real Madrid but insists he would still 'do it all again'

Speaking to Tuttomercatoweb, the former Italy captain felt regret and is remorseful for the words he used to lament Michael Oliver. The English referee was officiating the match between Real Madrid and Juventus in the 2018 Champions League quarter-final, where Juve had made a dramatic comeback only to concede a penalty in the 93rd minute. This triggered Buffon, and the situation took a dramatic turn.

Juventus were trailing by two goals after losing to Real Madrid in Turin. The Serie A club made a dramatic comeback, only to concede a penalty in the final moments of the game. Buffon, who found it to be an extremely harsh decision by Oliver, unleashed a verbal tirade at the Premier League ref. This led to the goalkeeper being sent off, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the penalty that sealed the fate of Juventus.

Reflecting on the incident, the former Italy international said: “Now that a few years have gone by, I am ashamed of what I said. I was old enough to know better, I represented someone, I was the captain. However, I must also admit that if I had to go back and do it all again, I’d say the exact same thing.

“At that moment, it wasn’t just a defeat, it was something special, an epic comeback, in an epic stadium, with a squad that showed special character and unity, we were crazy and dreamers. To this day I don’t know why I was sent off, so the anger in the interviews was also down to that.”

Juventus are hanging onto a top-four spot in Serie A for now, but with the competition heating up for Champions League qualification, they will need to be at their best in the next two games against Udinese and Venezia respectively. Indeed, as many as five clubs are all in with a chance of climbing above Igor Tudor's side before the season ends.