FRANCO BARESI climbs up the Ibrox marble staircase, stops to point out some names on the club's hall of fame board, then wanders into the hospitality suite where the press are gathered to wait for him.

Never the most imposing physically at just 5ft 10in and of wiry, slim build, he still manages to capture the attention of everyone present as he glides effortlessly across the room.

This was an audience with a legend of the game and no mistake. True football greats are spotted in Scotland these days about as often as Halley's Comet, but Baresi fitted the bill yesterday and then some. Not even Daniele Massaro, a man who once scored twice in a European Cup final, could barge his way into Baresi's spotlight as grown men who should have known better gulped excitedly at the prospect of sharing his company for even just 10 minutes.

Stealth was one of the key attributes that made him one of the finest defenders of his era and he was equally inconspicuous here, propped between the rather more gregarious Massaro and a phalanx of Milan officials and translators that seemed to grow in number the longer the conversation went on. Dressed in a white Milan tracksuit and speaking predominantly in Italian with the occasional stab at English, there was little sign of any outward ostentation or ego as he responded to questions with the kind of quiet conviction that had been the hallmark of a stellar career for both Milan and Italy.

Three European Cups. Six Serie A titles. Two World Club trophies. Eighty-one caps for his country. Voted both Italy's and Milan's best player of the 20th century. The roll of honour is as impressive as it is long. Such was his loyalty to Milan, where he spent his entire career after being rejected as a teenager by neighbours Internazionale, that they retired his No.6 jersey when he hung up his boots.

He had some help along the way, too. Some reckon the backline of Mauro Tassotti, Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini to be the best that football has ever seen. Few forwards ever got the better of that lot. Baresi often swept up behind Costacurta, his pace and ability to read the game making up for the fact he lacked the sort of stature normally expected of central defenders. He became a defensive colossus, just not in the literal sense, and remains the last man to captain a side to back-to-back European Cup success when Arrigo Sacchi's talented group followed their 1989 thrashing of Steaua Bucharest with a narrow win over Benfica a year later.

Only on the international front did the greatest prize elude him. He was a non-playing squad member when Italy triumphed in 1982 then suffered the heartbreak of losing the final on a penalty shoot-out to Brazil 12 years later. Those who remember that Baresi was one of those to miss from the spot in the searing heat of Pasadena, USA often forget that it was something of a miracle he was there to take one at all. He had suffered a serious knee injury during the group phase and defied medical expectations just to return for the final where he performed admirably to snuff out the not inconsiderable threat of Romario.

At 52 years old, Baresi still looks healthy, the famous jet black wavy hair having crept backwards with the years. He spends most of his time as a club ambassador, while also occasionally pulling the boots back on to represent Milan Glorie, the old boys team he will captain against the Rangers legends at Ibrox tonight. How fit he actually is will become more apparent when play gets underway but there have been plenty of opportunities to practise in recent years, with Glorie regularly taking the Milan brand on the road.

"We play together maybe in three or four events a year," revealed Baresi. "Recently we've played in Madrid against [Zinedine] Zidane, [Luis] Figo and [Emilio] Butragueno, and we've also played in Indonesia, Japan, Argentina and Dubai. Next we will go to Germany in June."

Massaro chimed in. "We all enjoy it," said the Italian. "My mind wants to get the ball but sometimes my body doesn't let it."

Milan continue to be a huge part of Baresi's life. He was impressed, he revealed, with their defending in their Champions League goalless draw with Barcelona the other night, as the Milan defence enforced a rare shut-out on Lionel Messi. How would he have handled the Argentinean superstar if the pair had ever crossed paths on the football field? By sticking to him like a second skin, you would imagine. Baresi, though, offers only a grin and a modest retort. "It is very difficult to tackle someone like Messi so I don't know how you would stop him. And it is always hard to play against Barcelona. Sometimes even giving them just a little is too much."

Baresi heads an illustrious cast of former Milan greats sheduled to appear at Ibrox tonight, one that includes Paolo Maldini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Gianluigi Lentini and Zvonimir Boban. Charities tend to be the sole beneficiaries on occasions like these but Baresi had no problem in helping Rangers through their current plight as well.

"I was surprised to hear what had happened to Rangers and I am sorry they are in this situation," he added. "It's not easy for anyone connected to them and that is why we are here – to make our contribution."