<p class="title">Italy great Gianluigi Buffon played his final game for Juventus on Saturday before tearfully exiting after a trophy-laden 17-year career in a 2-1 win over already-relegated Verona.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buffon -- who had captained Juventus to a seventh straight Serie A title and fourth consecutive Italian Cup triumph this season -- took his final bow midway through the second half.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It was the 656th game for the evergreen 40-year-old who arrived in Turin in 2001 from Parma for a then world record 52 million euros fee.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The goalkeeper and captain was substituted by coach Massimiliano Allegri at 63 minutes to take an ovation before 40,000 emotional Juventus fans many with their eyes brimming with tears.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Juventus were two goals up thanks to Daniele Rugani after 49 minutes and Miralem Pjanic three minutes later when Buffon came off the pitch.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He hugged all his teammates, on the field and on the bench, and then left the sidelines.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Goalkeeper Carlo Pinsoglio made his Serie A debut between the posts but Alessio Cerci pulled one back for the visitors on 76 minutes, ending Juventus's bid for a record 23 games in one season without conceding a goal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buffon had said he did not want anything special for his final game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I want to live this day normally. I ask nothing except what I have already had, esteem, affection and respect. The rest I do not need it. As a child, I did not like birthdays and be in the centre of attention," Buffon had said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But there was thundering applause and singing as the goalkeeper and Juventus captain emerged from the locker rooms.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was accompanied onto the pitch at the Allianz Stadium by his three children - the youngest, Leopoldo, in the arms of his partner Ilaria D'Amico, and the other two, Louis Thomas and David Lee, led by the hand of his ex-wife Alena Seredova.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"There is only one number 1, there is only one number 1", they sang in the tribunes before kick-off, as Buffon hugged his teammates one by one.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the south tribune, Juventus fans unfurled a banner with a phrase: "Only those who try the absurd reach the impossible".</p>.<p class="bodytext">And a large part of the tribune was covered for a few minutes with a giant flag with the image of the goalkeeper. There were messages "17 years with you. Thanks Gigi", "Gigi Buffon, immortal hero" and "Gigi, Santo Subito".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buffon hugged each of his teammates including his successor Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny and new captain Giorgio Chiellini and took his place in between the post for his final game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The crowd cheered his every move with his first save after quarter of an hour against Mohamed Fares.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The moment everyone was waiting for came at after 63 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buffon hugged every teammate, every member of staff, waved at the crowd until he got to the bench, rested his head back and sighed with eyes closed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Called loudly by the public, Buffon, after a brief stop in the locker room, returned, with the game still in progress, and started the round of the field to shake hands, under the driving rain and thunder.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buffon has yet to decide what the future holds and has said he could take a six-month sabbatical.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Six thousand one hundred eleven days. Six thousand one hundred eleven moments of pure passion. Of joy and of tears; of defeats and of victories," Buffon wrote in an open letter to fans on the eve of his final game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A new journey begins. A new chapter."</p>.<p class="bodytext">He has received an offer to stay on at Juventus in a management role with reported offers to play with clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain.</p>
<p class="title">Italy great Gianluigi Buffon played his final game for Juventus on Saturday before tearfully exiting after a trophy-laden 17-year career in a 2-1 win over already-relegated Verona.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buffon -- who had captained Juventus to a seventh straight Serie A title and fourth consecutive Italian Cup triumph this season -- took his final bow midway through the second half.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It was the 656th game for the evergreen 40-year-old who arrived in Turin in 2001 from Parma for a then world record 52 million euros fee.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The goalkeeper and captain was substituted by coach Massimiliano Allegri at 63 minutes to take an ovation before 40,000 emotional Juventus fans many with their eyes brimming with tears.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Juventus were two goals up thanks to Daniele Rugani after 49 minutes and Miralem Pjanic three minutes later when Buffon came off the pitch.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He hugged all his teammates, on the field and on the bench, and then left the sidelines.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Goalkeeper Carlo Pinsoglio made his Serie A debut between the posts but Alessio Cerci pulled one back for the visitors on 76 minutes, ending Juventus's bid for a record 23 games in one season without conceding a goal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buffon had said he did not want anything special for his final game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I want to live this day normally. I ask nothing except what I have already had, esteem, affection and respect. The rest I do not need it. As a child, I did not like birthdays and be in the centre of attention," Buffon had said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But there was thundering applause and singing as the goalkeeper and Juventus captain emerged from the locker rooms.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was accompanied onto the pitch at the Allianz Stadium by his three children - the youngest, Leopoldo, in the arms of his partner Ilaria D'Amico, and the other two, Louis Thomas and David Lee, led by the hand of his ex-wife Alena Seredova.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"There is only one number 1, there is only one number 1", they sang in the tribunes before kick-off, as Buffon hugged his teammates one by one.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the south tribune, Juventus fans unfurled a banner with a phrase: "Only those who try the absurd reach the impossible".</p>.<p class="bodytext">And a large part of the tribune was covered for a few minutes with a giant flag with the image of the goalkeeper. There were messages "17 years with you. Thanks Gigi", "Gigi Buffon, immortal hero" and "Gigi, Santo Subito".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buffon hugged each of his teammates including his successor Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny and new captain Giorgio Chiellini and took his place in between the post for his final game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The crowd cheered his every move with his first save after quarter of an hour against Mohamed Fares.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The moment everyone was waiting for came at after 63 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buffon hugged every teammate, every member of staff, waved at the crowd until he got to the bench, rested his head back and sighed with eyes closed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Called loudly by the public, Buffon, after a brief stop in the locker room, returned, with the game still in progress, and started the round of the field to shake hands, under the driving rain and thunder.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Buffon has yet to decide what the future holds and has said he could take a six-month sabbatical.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Six thousand one hundred eleven days. Six thousand one hundred eleven moments of pure passion. Of joy and of tears; of defeats and of victories," Buffon wrote in an open letter to fans on the eve of his final game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A new journey begins. A new chapter."</p>.<p class="bodytext">He has received an offer to stay on at Juventus in a management role with reported offers to play with clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain.</p>