Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini expects former Juventus teammate Gigi Buffon to return to the Italy squad.

The PSG goalkeeper is missing from this week's squad.

Chiellini said, “Buffon loves this jersey too much to close the door on it definitively. Whether he is here as a goalkeeper in future or another role, he'll never be completely done with the Nazionale."

Italy's next opponents on Monday are Portugal in Lisbon, but Chiellini's new Juventus teammate Cristiano Ronaldo won't be taking part.

“When you change environment after many years the way he did, it can be helpful to stop and focus on this new club. These are two difficult games for us and Cristiano's absence inevitably helps us, but there are many quality players in the side."