Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon revelled in his record-breaking appearance after eclipsing Paolo Maldini for most games at club level.
Buffon - back in Turin after a season with Paris Saint-Germain - made his 903rd appearance for Juventus in Saturday's 2-0 Serie A win over SPAL to break Maldini's appearance record.
After surpassing fellow Italian great Maldini, Buffon told reporters: "It's a great satisfaction, I wasn't aware I was so close to this record two games ago, I found out at the last game. I was told I had reached Paolo [Maldini].
"It makes me very happy and very proud, proud for what I did, but as I said to your colleagues, I am happy because I got here not dragging myself, but as a high-level player. That's what I think I can say without being presumptuous.
"Therefore I also added, earlier on, that I will always thank my parents and my wife, which has been benevolent with me, but I can also say that there's something of my own in all this."
Buffon returned to Juve during the close season after a one-year spell at Ligue 1 champions PSG, having also previously represented Parma.
Unlike Maldini, who spent his entire career with Serie A rivals AC Milan, Buffon's appearances have been spread across three clubs.
He played 220 matches for Parma at the start of his career, was used 25 times in a largely underwhelming campaign with PSG last time out and has now featured 658 times for Juventus.
AN-WAR
53
It is the history of Man Buffon. Unbelievable history. A gan of Goalkeeper who stands like The Great Wall of China 🇨🇳. Congratulation again Buffon
Donahue
40
Maldini played 647 league games for Milan. He played 902 total games for Milan across all competitions. He played an additional 126 senior games for Italy. Buffon played 509 league games for Juve, but only 472 in Serie A. He has played a total of 640 Serie A games between Juve and Parma. Buffon has played a total of 901 games for his three clubs (including PSG) across all competitions. So basically this stat is saying that Buffon will equal Maldini's tally of total appearances across all competitions and all leagues. We're just fishing for stats out here is what's happening.