The best players Italy legend Maldini met in his career | OneFootball

Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Franco Baresi and Marco van Basten are the best footballers Paolo Maldini met in his career as the Italy and Milan legend revealed in a recent interview.

Maldini surely is one of the best Italian footballers of all time and is regarded as one of the best defenders ever, if not the best.

The ex-Italy international spent his whole career at Milan and became the second player with the most appearances in Serie A, after only Gigi Buffon.

Maldini won every possible trophy at San Siro and he did it multiple times. Seven Serie A titles and five Champions League are among the most important cups he lifted with the Serie A giants, who were the best team in the world for many, many years during the Maldini era.

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Maldini played at San Siro with another legendary Italian defender, Baresi, and it’s no surprise that Maldini named his former teammate among the best footballers he played with.

“In terms of moral strength, Franco Baresi was an amazing footballer,” Maldini told Radio Serie A.

“He didn’t talk. He acted and he was perfect. I also played with Marco Van Basten, and I played with great players in negative seasons.”

Maldini shared the dressing room with other iconic players towards the end of his career.

“Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are the most technically gifted players I’ve ever seen, but they arrived at the end of their careers,” he recalled.

“To play against Ronaldo at Inter was really tough. He would not stop. Rules were not as strict as today. We could use physicality more, but he was huge, fast and technically gifted.”

Maldini also won two Intercontinental Cups, one Club World Cup, and five UEFA Supercups. Although he failed to win any piece of silverware with Italy in his career, Paolo has no regrets.

“I played in four World Cups. In 2006, Marcello Lippi talked to me, but I had started having problems with my knee, and I was struggling to play twice a week for Milan,” the former defender continued in the same interview.

“I wanted to preserve my body without being a burden. I had already said no to Trapattoni in 2004 and it didn’t feel right to say no to him and yes to Lippi. Perhaps we wouldn’t have won if I were in the team, so it was okay like this.”