The son of Albino Maldini, a sailor, and Maria, Cesare Maldini was born in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. His family was of Slovenian descent. He married Maria Luisa (Marisa; née Mazzucchelli, 1939–2016) in 1962; together they had six children: three sons and three daughters. One of his sons, Paolo, also had a successful football career as a defender with Milan, and also once held the record for the most caps for the Italy national team (now third behind Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro). The younger Maldini captained Milan to the UEFA Champions League title in 2003 and 2007, and won the trophy five times in total. Maldini's grandsons Christian and Daniel played football in the AC Milan youth teams. Cesare's nephew Pero Maldini is a well known political commentator born in Dubrovnik, Croatia.