The ‘Piscinin’ who personified perfection: Franco Baresi, AC Milan’s favourite son

Sometimes, when the blank screen stares back at you, it’s hard to find words. As a writer and a journalist that is never a good time, but it is something that we as Milanisti are probably all experiencing right now.

On Friday morning, the harrowing news arrived that Milan had lost one of its icons: Franco Baresi. A statement on the club’s official website announced his passing at the age of 66 following a battle with ill health that he chose to take on largely in silence.

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What has followed is an outpouring, not only of grief but of celebration, because of the man concerned. Old team-mates, ex-opponents and clubs around the world have sent in their messages of condolence, providing beams of light on an otherwise dark day.

There is no sugar-coating or getting around the fact that it feels like a death in the family for those lucky enough – and it is lucky, even in times like this – to call AC Milan the club that they love and support.

Yet, we must also cherish what has been even if it is no longer, because to many Franco Baresi was not a part of Milan, he is Milan. From the thousands in the Curva Sud every week who wave his banner to supporters in all corners of the globe, there might not be a more beloved embodiment of Milanismo.

Humble beginnings

Franchino Baresi was born on 8 May 1960 in the small town of Travagliato, in the province of Brescia. He grew up in a farmstead on the outskirts and initially did not show too much of an interest in football until he was able to start watching it on television, around the age of 10.

To say that Baresi had a rough start to life would be a gross understatement. He went for a trial with his brother Giuseppe at Inter, but they chose the latter instead. As he was the younger of the pair, Franco was initially known as ‘Baresi 2’. That tag would flip in the coming decades.

At this point Italo Galbiati invited him to try out for Milan. After three trials and thanks to the insistence of Guido Settembrino, Baresi was signed for the academy. Here he bonded in particular with his team-mate Gabriello Carotti and with the coach Giuseppe Marchioro.

In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Baresi recalled what it meant to join the youth team back in 1972, having by that point pledged his allegiance to the club as a supporter.

“I remember being a Milan fan, looking at those colours even when I was 10 years old. I arrived at Milanello for the first time when I was fourteen and it felt like I was entering Paradise,” he said.

“[Milan were] My lifeline. I lost my mother and father when I was still a teenager and AC Milan welcomed me, it gave meaning to everything.”

Indeed, Franco and his brother Giuseppe had been left orphaned at the age of 14 as both their mother and father died. Despite a setback of the highest possible magnitude, both kept going to try and achieve their dreams.

Baresi debut in the first team and in Serie A took place on 23 April 1978, at the age of 17 in the Coppa Italia. However, the permanence in the first team of the young ‘Piscinin’ (Milanese for ‘Little One’, a nickname given to him by Milan’s masseur Paolo Mariconti) was threatened due to Albertosi and Capello being in the squad.

Nonetheless, the young and promising defender gradually began to settle in the dressing room and – thanks to his determination, his personality and his tactical maturity – he managed to gain the appreciation of captain Gianni Rivera.

In the 1978-79 season, coach Nils Liedholm chose to sacrifice an experienced libero in Turone to make room for Baresi in the team. In that season he always played as a starter and even made his debut in the UEFA Cup. That team would win the Scudetto, the 10th in club history.

Rivera convinced the Milan management to also reward Baresi with a league title bonus of 50 million lire, having previously remarked: “This boy will go far.” In 1979, despite being just 19 years of age, Baresi took over from Rivera as the leader of the dressing room.

On that time, the centre-back recalled last year: “I remember in particular having the fortune of playing with Gianni Rivera, he was at the end of his career. We played together only two years, but they were precious years, in which I was able to learn a lot from him.

“Observing how he moved, how he managed certain situations, his elegance and his attention to those who played less, to those on the bench, who struggled in training like the starters.”

It was not all sunshine from that point on though. Milan were handed an automatic relegation to Serie B in 1980 by a ruling relating to the football betting scandal, but Franco was among the few members of the squad who did not leave the club. He was among the protagonists of Milan’s return to Serie A.

In the 1981-82 season, after being struck by a rare blood disease, he was forced to stay on the sidelines for about four months. Without his quality and leadership, Milan were relegated to Serie B again, this time on the field.

Becoming a winner

Things would turn for the young Franco Baresi, and it actually all began with the national team. The centre-back had been a member of the Italy squad that had finished fourth at the 1980 European Championship, and was named in the 1982 World Cup squad. He did not play a game, but the Azzurri hoisted the trophy, beating West Germany in the final.

After Aldo Maldera and Fulvio Collovati left the club following relegation in 1982, Baresi was appointed Milan’s captain at the age of 22. Having assumed the role at the club’s lowest ebb, he would hold this position for the next 15 years, becoming a symbol of the phoenix-like rise.

The rest of the mid-1980s was a struggle for the Rossoneri, who had to rebuild back towards their former glories. Then came another man who changed the course of history: Silvio Berlusconi, a wealthy and ambitious entrepreneur who wanted to make Milan the best club in Europe.

Reflecting on the media tycoon’s grand arrival, Baresi said: “At first, that challenging goal was met with widespread skepticism, especially since the previous season hadn’t ended with a thrilling result. A year later, we already had the Scudetto on our chest. I didn’t have to wait long to realise that I could turn all my dreams into reality.”

Towards the end of the decade into the first half of the 1990s, Baresi was at the heart of a notable all-Italian defence alongside Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, Mauro Tassotti and later Christian Panucci.

He worked under managers Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello, as the bedrock of a rearguard in teams which are regarded by many as being among the greatest of all time. They transformed not just the way the Diavolo were run but also how calcio was perceived, bringing a fresh and modern style.

What helped were the other new additions. Roberto Donadoni, Carlo Ancelotti, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard joined forces to construct a new core. Demetrio Albertini, Dejan Savićević, Zvonimir Boban, Marcel Desailly, George Weah, Jean-Pierre Papin and Roberto Baggio would follow in later years.

During this time, there were some teams that stood out above all. Under Sacchi, Milan won the Serie A title in 1987–88, with Baresi being the anchor of a defence that would concede only 14 goals. Back-to-back European Cups in 1988–89 and 1989–90 came: in the latter, a 1-0 win over Benfica, Baresi’s stellar defensive work ensured one goal was enough.

Baresi was also runner-up to team-mate Van Basten for the Ballon d’Or in 1989, finishing ahead of his other teammate Rijkaard, and was named Serie A Footballer of the Year in 1989–90. Some believe Franco should have won it, including Berlusconi who presented him with a replica of the trophy years later.

He went on to win four more Serie A titles under Capello, including three consecutive Scudetto in 1991–92, 1992–93 and the 1993–94 seasons. Baresi guided Milan to the 1991–92 title undefeated, helping the Rossoneri to go unbeaten for an Italian record of 58 matches too.

Baresi won the third European Cup/Champions League of his career in 1993–94 when the Diavolo defeated Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona side 4–0 in the final, one that has become an infamous lesson in humility and tactical genius.

Baresi retired at the end of the 1996–97 Serie A season, at age 37. In his 20 seasons with Milan, he won six Serie A titles, three European Cups, two Intercontinental Cups (four finals in total), three European Supercups (four finals in total), four Supercoppa Italiana (five finals in total), two Serie B titles and a Mitropa Cup.

He scored 31 goals for Milan, 21 of which were penalties, which he was surprisingly good at. The Italian’s final goal for his beloved was scored in a 2-1 win against Padova on 27 August 1995. Milan retired his No.6 shirt after he hung up his boots. It was the least they could do.

There was to be a final moment of symbolism on the field. With Cesare Maldini having worn the captain’s armband before, Baresi handed it over to his son Paolo Maldini, who would in turn also go on to don it for over a decade.

Life beyond the numbers

What deserves a separate mention is how Franco Baresi played the role that he was given by Liedholm: the libero. Nowadays they would be known as a sweeper, effectively being a central defender who plays behind the main line to stop attacks but also start them.

After sharing the beginning of his career from the late 1970s to the dawn of the 1980s with another outstanding player, Gaetano Scirea, Baresi succeeded in further enhancing the complexity of the role. Despite his size, he became an almost militant commander at the back.

Baresi was blessed with technical quality, vision, a propensity for starting attacks (today we would call it the build-up phase), a commanding attitude, an elite reading of the game and a ferocious tackling ability.

He was the best libero in the world of his era, certainly due to his talent, but also because he lived in a historical context marked by the revolution of Sacchi, his mentor. It’s no myth that Sacchi – in his early days at Milan – advised Franco to study the movements of Gianluca Signorini, the Parma libero he had coached until a few months earlier.

Sacchi already had his defensive picture in mind, and Baresi was his chief artist, adding his own touches of nuance and flair. With zonal play, pressing, counter-pressing, a high line and the offside trap, Serie A had not seen defending like it.

The truth is that the secret to the beautiful recipes Arrigo Sacchi concocted all came from a solid base: Tassotti, Baresi, Costacurta, Maldini. Baresi was a phenomenon at anticipating the opponents’ intentions, surging into midfield to cut attacks out, or dropping to simply take the ball one-on-one.

He was also brilliant at elegantly imbuing the more ferocious and direct side of defending. Baresi was not a dirty player by any means, at least not compared to some at the time, but when he had to make a tackle he did so with the grinta that reminded everyone he was representing the team of his heart.

Despite such a storied career and a status as a leader of the biggest and best team in Europe for years, Baresi was not really an outspoken man. He did his talking on the field, and away from the pitch he lived a quiet life, never causing any drama or controversy. Baresi led by example, through the standards of professionalism and dedication that he set.

Despite having given so much to others, Franco Baresi continued to want to give more and his significant charitable work must also be mentioned, starting with AC Milan’s official charity Fondazione Milan.

He was involved in virtually every scheme that the foundation did from becoming vice-president of the Rossoneri officially in 2020. It was during that year that he penned a wonderful open letter while the world was gripped by the pandemic, of which a couple of passages stand out.

“We are all involved and committed to protecting the most precious thing, our health and the wellbeing of those nearest and dearest to us. We are also facing important challenges, we don’t need individuals, we must be a team not only on the pitch because we all have a role that involves expectations and responsibilities.

“People are the heart of a company’s business. I am therefore convinced that thanks to the high quality of everyone’s work, to the respect and trust, that are values ​​in which I have always believed, we will succeed together in taking our great club to the top.”

In addition to work for the Fondazione, Baresi was also part of Sports for Change, and UNHCR’s Sports for Peace. He regularly donated signed shirts and other items to support youth projects and local educational organisations like Centro Formazione Supereroi.

In 2014 he travelled to Tripoli, Lebanon, to open a renovated sports centre funded by the Milan Foundation. The initiative helped over 1,400 Syrian refugee and local Lebanese children use sport to overcome trauma and build friendships, just as he had when he lost his parents 40 years prior.

“With Milan Foundation I experienced poverty, in Kenya, in Morocco. In Lebanon I got to play in the streets with children. These are emotions that completed me,” Baresi said on Valentine’s Day in 2025.

Then there is what happened on 7 March 1990. A few hours before the first leg of the European Cup quarter-final between Mechelen and Milan, Baresi walked to the former Curva Z at Heysel Stadium together with team manager Paolo Taveggia.

Milan had intended to organise an official commemoration for the 39 victims of the tragedy of 29 May 1985, but the Belgian authorities refused permission. Baresi and Taveggia nevertheless decided to appear in front of the section where those fans had lost their lives five years earlier.

They laid a bouquet of 39 red roses, one for each victim. The gesture did not go unnoticed: at the first opportunity, at the Stadio Comunale in Turin, the Juventus fans unfurled a banner destined to remain in memory: ‘Baresi, 39 times thank you’.

Juventus, as it turned out, would try to sign him at one point, but his attachment to Milan remained too strong.

Befitting testimonies

We have spent the day compiling the touching tributes that have come in, and there have been almost countless messages honouring one of football’s true gentlemen, of which some naturally stand out.

Pietro Paolo Virdis published a longer post, which features the poignant paragraph: “There are episodes in life that mark a watershed between what was and what is… you are this… you are everything that football had that was beautiful: the passion, the morality, the ideal… a shirt that is skin and not a garment that changes depending on the zeros that accompany it.”

Pippo Inzaghi would miss out on being a team-mate of Baresi’s, but one of his anecdotes perfectly reveals the class of someone leading a club he would go on to write more historical pages for.

“In Parma, many years ago, I was lucky enough to play against you. I wore the number 16 and didn’t even come on that match. At the end of the game I asked you for your shirt. You looked at me and said: ‘Aren’t you going to give me yours?’

“A simple phrase, but one that has stayed with me throughout my career. Since that day, every time a player has asked me for my shirt, I’ve asked for his, just like you did for me.”

Going a bit further back, Diego Maradona once walked off the field wearing Baresi’s now-iconic number six shirt after facing Milan with Napoli in 1989. It was around the time that the two clubs were jostling for supremacy in Italy, with a fierce rivalry developing.

Nevertheless, Maradona couldn’t hide his respect and admiration: “This shirt belongs to a great player, I think Franco Baresi is the best as a defender. This is a memory that I will keep for the rest of my life.”

Without wanting to in any way downplay the emotion and significance of the other tributes, the words of Paolo Maldini – another Milan legend and icon, the man who took over the armband – have struck a chord with a lot of people.

“Hi Franco, Today I feel the same way I did when, for whatever reason, you couldn’t take the field alongside us: what will we do without our Captain? You taught me to fight until the last breath, what it means to be loyal to the shirt, and the value of being a true leader.

“You did it by example, every day: few words, but countless actions. You protected me as a child, guided me as a boy, and inspired me as a man. You were the greatest player I’ve ever had the honour of playing with.

“A warm hug to your entire family, especially your wife Maura and your sons, Edoardo and Giannandrea. We will miss you, Captain. But the light of your star will continue to be with us forever.”

On this mid-summer Friday, one that is paradoxically bleak, allow yourself to process things however you want to. Spend hours watching highlights of old games and compilations demonstrating Baresi’s artistry. Read articles about him that you haven’t before.

Speak to people to share memories, especially if they were lucky enough to watch him play or meet the man behind the deity. Shed a few tears if you want to. The reason this feels like a family member passing away is because that is the case. As Milanisti, we have all lost someone close to us today.

There is a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay that feels apropos to conclude: “The candle burns at both ends, it will not last the night. But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends, it gives a lovely light.”

Franco, thank you for giving us your light for over four decades, and may you rest in eternal peace.