Paolo Maldini has paid tribute to Franco Baresi, who has died at the age of 66, in a message shared on Instagram following the club’s announcement this morning.
The two formed the heart of one of the greatest defences the game has seen, lining up together alongside Alessandro Costacurta and Mauro Tassotti across an era that brought Milan sustained success. Between them, Maldini and Baresi shared the pitch 196 times.
Their bond ran through the captaincy itself. Baresi had received the armband from Cesare Maldini, Paolo’s father, and handed it on to Paolo on the day he retired, a passing of the torch that tied the two families and two generations together.
In his message, Maldini wrote: “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.”
He continued: “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 honor of playing with.”
Maldini closed with a message to Baresi’s family: “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.”
For a generation of Rossoneri, Baresi and Maldini were inseparable in memory, and the words of one saying goodbye to the other carry the weight of everything they built together.