Cristiano Ronaldo Can't Resist Commenting to Gianluigi Buffon During Champions League Draw

Cristiano Ronaldo has extended a lighthearted apology to Gianluigi Buffon for his famous bicycle kick goal scored against the Italian goalkeeper in 2018.

The two football legends reunited for the Champions League draw on Thursday evening, with Buffon drawing the teams and Ronaldo pressing the button to reveal the matchups.

Ronaldo and Buffon previously played together at Juventus, winning a domestic double in 2020. However, their paths crossed in a heated rivalry prior to that, particularly during Ronaldo's time at Real Madrid.

Their most memorable clash occurred in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Champions League. In the first leg, held in Turin, Real Madrid defeated Juventus 3-0, thanks in part to Ronaldo's spectacular acrobatic goal.

Dani Carvajal’s cross found Ronaldo, who executed a stunning bicycle kick past a helpless Buffon, leaving even Juventus fans applauding the brilliance of the strike.

During the draw, UEFA host Pedro Pinto referenced Ronaldo’s record against Buffon, prompting a playful response from the Italian legend: “Every match.” Ronaldo then jokingly apologized for that iconic moment.

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During the Champions League draw, host Reshmin Chowdhury brought up Ronaldo's iconic bicycle kick, prompting the Portugal captain to offer a playful apology in Italian: “Scusa Gigi, Scusa.” Buffon responded by revealing, “He apologized to me after the last match between Madrid and Juventus.”

Ronaldo added, “Respect,” acknowledging the shared history between the two legends. Real Madrid narrowly advanced past Juventus despite losing the second leg 3-1, and went on to win the Champions League title that year, defeating Liverpool in the final.

Buffon had previously shared that he and Ronaldo shared a light-hearted moment immediately after the wondergoal. In 2019, the Italian goalkeeper mentioned that he and the then-Real Madrid star had a joke about the spectacular strike.

"After about 25 seconds of normal frustration over the goal I conceded, I thought about what he had done to me, something really great," Buffon said. "I asked him, 'Cristiano, how old are you?' and he told me, 'not bad for a 33-year-old, right?'

"In the end we both laughed. At the end of my career, I had the chance to play with Cristiano and that's an extra point. It's hard to improve if you don't play with the best and I wanted to add him to the list of the great champions I've played with."