he is the world's best goalkeeper in Juventus'
Champions League semi-final victory over Monaco.
Juve won the away first leg of the tie 2-0 on
Wednesday courtesy of a goal in either half from
striker Gonzalo Higuain.
But Buffon also played an important role, making
five saves en route to a sixth consecutive
Champions League clean sheet – a club record –
and Allegri hailed the 39-year-old's performance
at Stade Louis II.
"Gigi Buffon's top performance almost goes
without saying when it comes to these big
matches," Allegri told the club's website.
"Gigi is the best goalkeeper in the world and he
has shown that in this game. The best players step
up to the plate on nights like this.
"Monaco are a good side, a technically gifted side,
but we started well. It was beginning to look easy,
but we made a few mistakes and Gigi produced a
great save at 0-0.
"They created a couple of good chances after we
took the lead, but Gigi was there to save again so
there is plenty to be happy about.
"All of the defenders did very well – it is games
like this that show just how good these players
are."
Allegri stressed the job was not yet done ahead of
next Tuesday's second leg in Turin, with Juve
eyeing a second final in the space of three years.
"You have to hand it to the players, I congratulate
them because it wasn't easy to come here to
Monaco for the first leg," added the Juve head
coach.
"That said, we still have to play the return leg and
the job is not complete. They have nothing to lose
so we will need to do a professional job once
again.
"The lads are having a great season, but now we
have the chance to make it an extraordinary one,
so we must be focused."
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