Milan was plunged into mourning on Tuesday morning as the city paid tribute to Franco Baresi at his funeral, a week after the AC Milan legend died at the age of 66.
Baresi captained AC Milan and was named the club's Player of the Century in 1999, having spent his entire 20-year career at the San Siro, including two spells in Serie B during the 1980s.
After he retired, the club took his number 6 shirt out of circulation, and fans lining the streets around the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio for the ceremony waved replica jerseys bearing the number in tribute.
Among the mourners were several of Baresi's most famous former team-mates, including his defensive partner and mentee Paolo Maldini, who arrived wearing dark glasses in his new role as technical president of the Italian Football Federation. He was joined by fellow Ballon d'Or winner Marco van Basten, who later served as a pallbearer for Baresi's coffin.
Roberto Baggio, Pietro Paolo Virdis, Mauro Tassotti, Clarence Seedorf, Demetrio Albertini, Alessandro Costacurta and Dida also attended to remember their former team-mate.
Former team-mates carry the coffin
Daniele Massaro, Roberto Donadoni, Filippo Galli, Angelo Colombo and Giovanni Galli joined Van Basten in carrying Baresi's coffin into the church, while Costacurta, Virdis, Massimo Ambrosini, Marco Simone and Alberico Evani carried it out afterwards.
The current AC Milan squad was represented by injured players Christian Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez, who are not with the rest of the team on its pre-season tour of Australia. The squad will wear black armbands when they face Inter Milan in Perth on Wednesday.
AC Milan chairman Paolo Scaroni and the club's owner, RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale, also attended but were booed on arrival, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
Fans pay tribute with songs and chants
When Baresi's coffin arrived, fans chanted "there's only one captain" and "you are forever Franco Baresi", before singing "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Former manager Fabio Capello was applauded as he arrived at the church, while ex-Milan players Dejan Savicevic and Daniele Massaro arrived carrying Baresi's white, signed captain's armband.
Representatives from the Italian national team and other Serie A clubs were also present, including a delegation from AC Milan's great rivals Inter Milan.
Bergomi delivers the first reading
Beppe Bergomi, Baresi's former rival on the pitch and close friend off it, read the first passage once the ceremony began.
Bergomi had supported Baresi during what turned out to be his last public appearance, when the two former captains carried the Olympic flame into the San Siro for the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in February.
A 20-year career at AC Milan
Baresi served as AC Milan captain for 14 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time. He helped the club win six Serie A titles and three European Cups, among numerous other honours.
He had initially been rejected by Inter Milan's academy as a junior, deemed too small and frail for the demands of 1970s football, with Inter instead signing his elder brother, Giuseppe. That twist of fate brought Baresi to AC Milan's academy, where he made his senior debut at 17, having been given the nickname Piscinin, meaning "little one" in Milanese dialect, by the club's masseur at the time, Paolo Mariconti.
Baresi remained with AC Milan through the Totonero match-fixing scandal, which saw the club relegated in 1980, and a second relegation in 1982, before going on to enjoy the heavily decorated glory years under managers Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello. His role as the bedrock of Milan's all-Italian defence saw him finish runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in 1989.
Baresi also won the World Cup with Italy in 1982 as a squad member, and came close to a second title in 1994, when the Azzurri lost the final to Brazil on penalties.
Recent health battle
Baresi had undergone lung surgery in August 2025 to remove a pulmonary nodule, and was later treated with cancer-prevention immunotherapy.
