World's back pages mourn Baresi, Milan's defensive art

The international press has led its coverage of Italian football this week with the funeral of Franco Baresi, the former AC Milan and Italy captain who died last week aged 66. The Guardian's picture gallery from the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio in Milan shows former teammates and large crowds paying their respects to one of the finest defenders in the history of the game.

The funeral drew a scale of mourning that the foreign press reserved for figures who transcended their sport. The Guardian's coverage, headlined "Ciao capitano," captured the scene at the basilica, where the city's football community gathered to honour a player whose entire career was defined by a single club and a single city.

For the international sporting press, Baresi's death is not merely an Italian story. His reputation as a libero — the sweeper who redefined defensive play — made him a reference point for generations of football writers in London, Madrid and beyond, and his passing has been treated as a moment of world football significance.