Born in Besana in Brianza on 23 August 1971, Demetrio Albertini developed at AC Milan, making his Serie A debut there in 1988 at the age of 17. In 1990, he moved to Serie B side Padova where he remained for a year. He returned to the Rossoneri a year later, becoming a club legend in the process at the club where he remained until 2002. In that time, he won Serie A five times, the Supercoppa Italiana three times, European Cup twice, European Supercup twice and Intercontinental Cup twice. After a year at Atletico Madrid, he returned to Italy with Lazio and won the Coppa Italia there. In 2004, he moved to Atalanta where he stayed for a few months before a return to Spain with Barcelona and his glorious career came to a close in 2005 at the age of 33 with a La Liga win.

A deep-lying playmaker who was perfectly capable at dictating the tempo, he made his Italy debut in 1991 at the age of 20. In 1992, he won the Under-21 European Championship in Spain. Back with the senior side, he was in the team that finished as runners-up in the 1994 World Cup in the USA after losing to Brazil on penalties in the final and he was also a runner-up at EURO 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands as France won the final via a golden goal. His other major tournament appearances were at EURO 1996 in England and the 1998 World Cup in France. By the end of his Italy career, he made 79 appearances and scored three goals.

After retirement, Albertini has worked in various roles as a director. He has been the vice-commissioner, vice-vice-president and is now the president of the FIGC’s Technical Sector.