Six Serie A titles. Three European trophies. A World Cup final played 25 days after knee surgery. Milan said goodbye to Franco Baresi on Tuesday, and the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio wasn't big enough to contain everything he meant to Italian football.
Fans in red and black lined the streets outside the church, one banner reading simply: "Ciao Capitano." A large Milan flag bearing the number 6 was waved by supporters who grew up watching a defender who, for 20 years, was AC Milan's spine. He died last week at 66.
What made Baresi different
Baresi didn't just play for AC Milan — he spent his entire career there. No mid-career move chasing money or trophies elsewhere. Twenty years, one club, captain for 15 of them. When he retired in 1997, Milan retired the number 6 shirt with him. No player in the club's history had ever received that honour before him.
He was the organising force behind one of the most dominant club defences European football has ever seen — the same back line that won three European Cups under Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello. Capello was among the mourners on Tuesday, alongside Paolo Maldini, the man who played beside Baresi for years in both the Milan and Italy defence.
Then there's 1994. Baresi captained Italy to the World Cup final in the USA, played the full 120 minutes against Brazil — on a knee he'd had operated on less than four weeks earlier — and then stepped up to take a penalty in the shootout. He missed. Italy lost. That one moment, painful as it was, somehow only added to the legend: the man gave everything, even when everything wasn't quite enough.
A complicated goodbye
Not everything about Tuesday was purely grief. When Gerry Cardinale, the RedBird Capital Partners owner, arrived at the basilica, he was met with whistles from fans frustrated with the club's current direction. It was a reminder that the Milan Baresi represented — dominant, proud, built on identity — feels a long way from where the club stands today.
- Baresi won six Serie A titles and three European trophies with AC Milan
- He captained Italy to the 1994 World Cup final
- He played 120 minutes of that final just 25 days after knee surgery
- His number 6 shirt was retired by Milan — the first player in the club's history to receive that honour
The number 6 banner outside the church said everything. Milan has had great players since Baresi. It hasn't had another one like him.
