Gianluigi Buffon walks away after receiving his medal.

The greatest goalkeeper of his generation, Juventus’s Gianluigi Buffon tasted defeat in his third Champions League final as the major missing medal from his illustrious career once again slipped out of his grasp on Saturday.

A 4-1 defeat by Real Madrid was tough to take for the 39-year-old who may never get another chance to win European club football’s top prize.

“It’s a big disappointment because we thought we did everything we needed to win,” Buffon told Italian television as Real celebrated at the Principality Stadium.

“We had a great first half in which we had Real in trouble. It leaves you with an open mouth, the episodes that never went our way,” he said, referring to Casemiro’s deflected strike that put Real 2-1 up.

Buffon had played in two previous Champions League finals and both times went home as a runner-up, against Milan on penalties in Manchester in 2003 and against Barcelona in Berlin two years ago.

Even in his state of bitter disappointment, however, Buffon was able to sum up exactly what is needed to triumph.

“To win this cup you have to be stronger than everything against you. In the second half their class, their strength, their ability to win these challenges was seen and they deservedly won,” he said.

While it will be no consolation for the Juve captain when he looks back on his career, he cannot afford to dwell too much on those finals.

At club level, Buffon got off to a winning start in his career, claiming the UEFA Cup and Italian Cup with Parma in 1999. With Juventus he has won the Italian league title eight times.

In the colours of the national team, under the guidance of his former Juve coach Marcello Lippi, Buffon won the World Cup in 2006, making up for the disappointment of missing out on Italy’s European Championship success in 2000 due to injury.

Factbox – Champions League final

Here are some facts and figures after Real Madrid beat Juventus 4-1 in the Champions League final:

• Spanish champions Real Madrid won a record extending 12th European Cup by adding to their wins in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014 and 2016.

• Real Madrid became the first team to successfully defend the title since Milan in 1990.

• Real Madrid won a La Liga title and European Cup double for the first time since 1958.

• Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener saw Real become the first team in the competition’s history to score 500 goals.

• Real Madrid scored in 65 games in all competitions this season.

The final

• Ronaldo was named man of the match.

• Ronaldo became the first player to score in three finals in the Champions League era, adding to his strikes in the 2008 and 2014 showpieces. He joined Alfredo di Stefano in netting in more than two finals. The late Argentine scored in a record five finals between 1956 and 1960.

• Mario Mandzukic became the third player to score in two European Cup/Champions League finals for two different teams, following Ronaldo, for Manchester United and Real, and Velibor Vasovic, for Partizan Belgrade and Ajax Amsterdam.

• Ronaldo’s second goal against Juventus took him to 600 strikes for his club and country Portugal.

• Juventus lost a record extending seventh European Cup final out of nine appearances.

• Juve’s Juan Cuadrado became the third player to be sent off in a Champions League final, following Jens Lehmann in 2006 and Didier Drogba in 2008.

• Both Real and Juve competed in their sixth Champions League final, equalling AC Milan’s record.

• Germany’s Felix Brych refereed the final. The 41-year-old was in charge of the 2014 Europa League final between Sevilla and Benfica in Turin.

Season review

This year’s Champions League saw 380 goals scored in 125 games, with an average of 3.04 goals per game.

The highest previous average was in the 2012-13 season when 368 goals were scored in 125 games at an average of 2.94 goals per game.

The highest-scoring Champions League game this season took place between Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and Poland’s Legia Warsaw on Nov. 22. Dortmund won 8-4.

Dortmund also scored the most goals in the group stage this season with 21.

Including the knockout stages, Real Madrid are the highest scorers at this year’s competition with 35 goals.

Top scorers this season
12 goals: Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
11 goals: Messi (Barcelona)
8 goals: Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
8 goals: Cavani (Paris St Germain)
7 goals: Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund)

Top-scoring clubs
Real Madrid (503), Barcelona (459), Bayern Munich (415), Manchester United (350), Arsenal (281), Juventus (264), Chelsea (249), Milan (231), Porto (218), Lyon (187).