'I faced CR7 & LM10 as defender, but it was someone else who gave me nightmares'

Leonardo Bonucci has chosen a bizarre name when asked about the toughest player he's faced - and it isn’t Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.

The former Juventus defender and Italian Euro 2020 hero hung up his illustrious boots earlier this year at the age of 37 after a swansong spell in Turkey with Fenerbahce. This brought down the curtain on a playing career that spanned nearly 20 years and saw him claim nine Scudetto’s.

During his time, the Italian faced some of the best forwards in European football, including the great world-beating Messi and his former teammate in Turin, Ronaldo.

Yet, when asked about the marksman who used to have him turning in his sleep, Bonucci uttered neither of these expected icons names, but instead former Serie A mainstay Duvan Zapata's.

“My nightmare, who didn’t make me sleep at night, was Zapata,” Bonucci revealed to Sky Italia. “God, before games against his Atalanta side, I couldn’t sleep at night. His power and physicality made him my nightmare.

“Then, I was lucky enough to play against so many champions. Drogba, Ronaldo, Messi, Torres, and I forget others, but it was too good.”

Colombian striker Zapata, 33, has been plying his trade in Italy since 2013, when he switched from Argentinian side Estudiantes to Napoli, and hasn’t looked back since.

A series of mediocre loans to Udinese and Sampdoria eventually saw him sold to the latter, but as Bonucci made clear, Zapata's skills were truly woven in Bergamo with Atalanta.

An initial two-year loan was made permanent in 2020 after Zapata became his side's first-ever Champions League goalscorer. He then carved out a nearly 200-appearance, 82-goal career for himself in northern Italy, and was heavily linked with a move to David Moyes' West Ham in 2022 before a prospective deal collapsed.

Standing at 6ft2in and known for his combative, speedy style, Zapata regularly teetered on the 20-goals-per-season mark in Atalanta colours, breaking it once, but left the club permanently this summer after recovering from an ACL tear - making his temporary spell at Turin-based Torino last term permanent.

Bonucci's not naming his peer Ronaldo as the answer to such a question may be down to the fact that the 37-year-old has been rather scathing of his former Juventus team-mate since the two parted ways in 2021. Despite dubbing him the ‘best player in the world,’ Bonucci feels as though the Portuguese’s presence may not have been entirely positive for The Old Lady.

"Ronaldo's presence had a big influence on us,” Bonucci admitted to The Athletic. “Just training with him gave us something extra, but subconsciously, players started to think his presence alone was enough to win games.

"We began to fall a little short in our daily work, the humility, the sacrifice, the desire to be there for your teammates day after day. Over the last few years, I think you could see that."

Juventus won back-to-back league titles with Ronaldo leading their line, including a trio of domestic cups, regardless of their off-field chemistry, and the Italian defender recognises the greatness he kitted out alongside.

"We missed that," Bonucci added. “Maybe it was taken for granted that if we gave the ball to Ronaldo, then he'd win us the game. But Ronaldo needed the team as much as we needed him. There had to be a trade-off because it's the team that lifts the individual even if the individual is the best player on the planet."