Greatest XI of the last 25 years

#4 Centre Back: Alessandro Nesta

Nesta’s partnership with Maldini is considered to be one of the best defensive pairs in history

Partnering Maldini in our list of greats is his former Milan and Italy team-mate Alessandro Nesta. Just like his compatriot, Nesta was regarded as one of the best in his position and was renowned for his combination with Maldini. His artistic tackles which were perfectly timed along with the ability to man mark opponents effectively made him a nuisance for his attacking adversaries.

In a career that spanned over two decades, Nesta’s time in Europe was spread over two clubs – Lazio and Milan. His spell at Lazio was indelible and a significant tenure as well for the world took note of a young defender who made headlines by winning the Serie A Defender of the Year on three occasions between 2000 to 2002. After bagging one Scudetto and two Coppa Italia with Le Aquile, Nesta headed off to Milan in 2002.

Upon arriving in Milan, he won his first Champions League medal in his first season itself. With a formidable defensive line at its disposal which consisted of colossal defenders like Maldini, Stam, Cafu and Costacurta, Nesta became a part of Milan’s second golden generation under Carlo Ancelotti that went on to win another Champions League which Nesta was enormously responsible for, thus avenging the 2005 final loss to Liverpool.

Nesta represented Italy for about a decade and was part of the squad that won the World Cup in 2006 although his impact was minimal as he was out injured after the group stages.