I am a footballing god who wore Rangers colours for one night only – then Ibrox showed me the world's best atmosphere
Anfield, Istanbul and south of the river in Glasgow.
Those are the three places without comparison in the mind of one of the greatest footballers of all time. But a trip to the Blue Sea of Ibrox was led to a goalkeeping god experiencing choppy waters before a ball was kicked. Yes, you might have guessed who we're alluding to, as the man between the sticks for Parma back in 1999 experienced both a sickening low and a euphoric high as witnessed by Rangers fans in full voice.
'The Parma game', you see, is still regarded as the zenith in terms of atmosphere and achievement for a Rangers side in Europe under Dick Advocaat. The Italians don't boast the A-list names they once trotted out these days, however, they were one of the finest sides in Europe and the team who succumbed at Ibrox included superstars such as Lillian Thuram and Fabio Cannavaro.
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But it was Gianluigi Buffon, regarded by many as the greatest goalkeeper in the history of football, who was left moved by his experience unlike any other. Buffon's night started with drama as the Italy No.1 was told his traditional black away kit was a no go due to a clash in the eyes of a stringent UEFA official.
Cue some last-gasp intervention and a jaunt to the Ibrox megastore for an Ibrox staffer who altered Stefan Klos' orange goalkeeper to add the Parma badge and logo. So, yes, it's true, Gigi Buffon wore a Rangers kit on a night the Little General and his troops roared to a 2-0 Champions League qualifying triumph thanks to goals from Tony Vidmar and Claudio Reyna.
Parma bared their teeth in the return leg but a gutsy Rangers display kept the arrears to a single goal to secure the club's passage into the group stage of the world's richest club tournament. But Rangers left their mark on Buffon and he was quick to mention them when he asked to name the three best stadiums of his iconic career.
Speaking in 2018, Buffon said: “Definitely Anfield, in Liverpool, that was one of the few stadiums - along with Rangers in Glasgow and Fenerbahce in Istanbul - where there was such commotion for the first 15-20 minutes that I had trouble concentrating."
