Edinson Cavani has picked out Italy and Juventus stalwart Giorgio Chiellini as his toughest opponent in football.
The 37-year-old centre-back captained the Azzurri to Euro 2020 glory in the summer and was widely regarded as one of the tournament’s best players.
His partnership with Leonardo Bonucci for both club and country has spanned well over a decade, gleaning countless major trophies, and when he does eventually retire Chiellini will surely be placed alongside the likes of Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini in the pantheon of Italy’s greatest defenders.
Our new no.21 has come up against Chiellini on a grand total of 10 occasions while with Palermo, Napoli and Uruguay.
In those matches, Edi has scored an impressive six goals, including a 2011 hat-trick for Napoli, but there’s no doubt in his mind that the Juve skipper has been the hardest player to get the best of.
“You can imagine that I’ve played against lots of different opponents, and lots of tough ones too,” Edi explained, in part one of his fans’ Q&A, which you can read here.
“But I’ve always said, and for a long time now, that the most difficult defender I’ve come up against was Giorgio Chiellini.
“We’ve played against each other in many games, and we’ve competed against each other all over the pitch, so yes I can tell you that Giorgio Chiellini has been the toughest defender I’ve had to face.”
It’s always interesting to hear from the first-team squad who they see as their toughest opponent and a variety of names are always thrown up.