Gianluigi Buffon tops Mohamed Salah's four-man list of the best goalkeepers he has ever come up against.
There are not many goalies that have been able to keep the Egyptian winger at bay, particularly this season as the Premier League's leading goalscorer, but the Italy legend, who is "unbelievable" according to the Liverpool star, was able to frustrate him more than most during his time in Serie A. When Salah was at Roma, he faced Buffon during his prime at Juventus and was in awe of the 44-year-old.
Salah holds Buffon in high esteem but reckons Iker Casillas is not far behind him as well as his teammate Alisson and Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer. When asked who is the best keeper he has ever faced, he told Sky Sports: "I can't decide on one so I'm going to give you four. Casillas, Buffon, Alisson, Neuer. I'm sure there are plenty of other great goalkeepers but I am forgetting at the moment. It's hard to choose which one."
Salah came up against Casillas in the Champions League when he was at the tail end of his career, but the Reds talisman was still impressed by the Spaniard. Asked what made the Real Madrid icon so special, Salah added: "For the career he had. I played against him when he was at Porto, not Real Madrid. You see him talking at the back and to the players.
Salah insists Buffon, who is still going with his boyhood club Parma at the ripe old age of 44, is in a league of his own, however. He reckons there was an aura around him and the feeling he got playing against him was on another level. He added: "When I played against Buffon in Italy, he was unbelievable. The feeling when you are up against him, it's amazing. The career he had winning everything in football, it's unbelievable."
Who is the best keeper out of the four Mohamed Salah mentioned? Comment below
Buffon is a living legend in Italy held in the same regard as Salah's former teammates Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi, as well as Alessandro Del Piero. Salah is mesmerised by the fact that those players were applauded by opposition fans no matter where they played in Italy, which is something you would never see in England.
Asked if Buffon has got a big presence in Italy, Salah said: Yeah, more so in Italy than in England. When I was playing in Rome, fans applauded Totti home and away. That only happened with Totti, De Rossi, Buffon and Del Piero. I don't think that happens in England, the fan is always against the opposition player, In Italy wherever Buffon goes, he gets the respect he deserves.
