Thousands of mourners gathered on the streets of Milan on Tuesday for the funeral of legendary defender Franco Baresi, who died last week at the age of 66 after a period of ill health.
Baresi, widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders in football history, captained AC Milan for 15 seasons and made 719 appearances for the club, scoring 33 goals. During his career with the Rossoneri, he won 18 trophies, including six Serie A titles and three Champions League titles. He was also capped 81 times by the Italian national team and was part of the squad that won the 1982 World Cup, later captaining Italy in the 1994 World Cup final.
The funeral service was held at the Sant'Ambrogio Basilica. Among the attendees were numerous club greats, including Paolo Maldini, Marco van Basten, Clarence Seedorf, Roberto Baggio, and Alessandro Costacurta. While the current AC Milan squad was on a pre-season tour in Australia, some first-team players not involved in the tour, such as American forward Christian Pulisic, were present.
AC Milan announced plans to pay tribute to their former captain ahead of their friendly match against Inter on Wednesday.
Baresi, who was made honorary president of Milan in 2020, had his number six shirt retired upon the conclusion of his playing career.