In a dusky room on an upper tier at the contemporary Garage Italia Milano in Piazzale Accursio, the excitable din from the audience below filters in.

The principle reason for the fervour does not get lost in translation - the phrase Il Capitano can be continuously heard - with the site of a former petrol station known as the “car temple” from the early '50s to the '90s parked full of football aficionados.

Cutting through the noise is the voice of the man - no, the legend - they are talking about: Paolo Maldini.

In a sharp, navy-blue suit, AC Milan’s record appearance holder and now their Sporting Strategy & Development Director is discussing what used to be referred to as il campionato più bello del mondo (the most beautiful championship in the world) and how Serie A can strive to restore itself as a masterpiece.

The 50-year-old, synonymous with Italian football’s period of superiority, fizzes as he recounts “unbelievable moments, memories to never forget” of a golden age where for two decades from 1989, the country was represented in the final of the European Cup 13 times.

The romanticism of calcio was matched by its might: super teams featuring supreme footballers - Diego Maradona, Marco van Basten, Zinedine Zidane, Ruud Gullit, Franco Baresi; the list is long and swoon-worthy - that ceremonially ruled continental nights.

They swept up at the Ballon d’Or too. Between '88 to 1990, all three final nominees for the award hailed from a Serie A club and the league had 11 winners in the aforementioned 20-year timeframe.

Italy were crowned world champions during that period as well, while finishing second and third at the Euros. When the national team lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy in 2006, however, it was also the beginning of Serie A’s erosion of dominance in light of the Calciopoli refereeing scandal.

A year later, Kaka became the last footballer from the division to claim the Ballon d’Or - with the league not even having a single representative in the shortlist of three ever since.