Even at the age of 39 Gianluigi Buffon looks to be unbeatable. The Italian international has kept up a level of consistency that his peers just haven't been able to match.

With another Serie A title set to find its way into his trophy cabinet, he's fast running out of things to achieve. Even a 2-2 draw against Atalanta on Friday night hasn't slow things down much.

On Wednesday night he travels with Juventus to the Stade Louis II to take on Monaco in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, and the Old Lady took on Atalanta on Friday in order to give themselves enough time to prepare for the French title chasers.

However, he very nearly didn't make it to the semi-final, after he revealed what he told his Juventus teammates before they took on Barcelona in their second leg of the quarter finals.

One of the few things Buffon has not done in football is concede a goal to Lionel Messi, and with Juve protecting a 3-0 lead in the tie and having witnessed their stunning comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round, he was preparing for the worst.

So certain was Buffon that Barcelona would score that he didn't feel he stood a chance of keeping a clean sheet, going as far as to tell his Juve teammates that he would retire if he shut them out.

And as you know, that's exactly what he did, and as you also know, he didn't keep to his side of the bargain.

"Not conceding any goal against Barcelona was a huge pleasure. It’s not only thanks to me but it’s an important achievement for every player of Juventus," he said.

"I can reveal what I told my teammates before the Champions League games against Barcelona. I promised I would have retired if I hadn’t concede any goal against them.

"After the games I told the same to Juventus’ president but he replied that sometimes in life we can say stupid things. He has more experienced than me so I can only thank him."

He has never won the competition but came close twice, picking up runners up medals in 2003 and 2015, but this time he'll be hoping to go the distance.