Paulo Dybala grabbed the majority of the headlines for his impressive brace in Tuesday night's 3-0 victory over Barcelona but Gianluigi Buffon quietly put in another crucial performance for Juventus.

Just 76 seconds before Dybala added his second of the night, the legendary Italian made a fantastic save to deny Andres Iniesta scoring a potentially tie-changing away goal.

At 39, Buffon has shown little sign of slowing down and his Juventus side look well positioned to end his wait for a Champions League crown after their demolition job over Luis Enrique's Catalans.

The respect football fans around the world hold for 'Mr Juventus' is of course, partly down to his ability on the pitch but also for the type of gent he is off it.

In an interview with The Guardian's Sid Lowe, Buffon's former teammate Alvaro Morata has recalled a touching story when his captain helped him out during one of his lowest periods.

The Spanish striker, now back at Real Madrid, was enduring a torrid time both in and outside of football throughout his second season with the Old Lady.

At one point, Morata's troubles affected him so much he broke down after a particularly awful training session.

Buffon spotted the youngster in distress and had a simple message of encouragement.

“I’d just finished training one day. It had been a terrible, terrible session – one of the worst in my life. I couldn’t even control the ball," Morata said.

"The physio asked what was wrong and I told him I was sad. I was crying. I was there on the treatment table and Gigi Buffon was next to me.

"Afterwards he took me aside, alone, and said that if I wanted to cry, do it at home. He said the people who wished me ill would be happy to see that and the people who wished me well would be saddened by it.”

Buffon always had faith in Morata to fulfill his undoubted potential 'if only he could get over his mental hang-ups'.

Of course, the Spanish international emerged from that turbulent period of his life a stronger person and a better player.

He finished the 2015/16 campaign with 12 goals and 12 assists - enough to convince Real Madrid to exercise their buy-back clause last summer.

But who knows how differently Morata's career would have panned out had Buffon not taken him under his wing when the striker was at his very lowest?