Claudio Ranieri is one of the classiest figures in football.The Italian maestro will always have a special place in the hearts of English supporters after leading Leicester City to one of the greatest achievements in the history of sport.The 69-year-old was only ever a few seconds away from making everyone either smile or laugh on the way to leading the Foxes to their 5,000-1 Premier League triumph in the 2015/16 campaign.

Ranieri: The ultimate class act

And although his return to English shores with Fulham was by no means as successful, it's clear that Ranieri's time in the Premier League has left a lasting impression on his attitudes.

That's because Ranieri decided to call upon a tradition mostly associated with the English game when his Sampdoria side locked horns with Serie A champions Inter Milan at the weekend.

Having experienced a 'Guard of Honour' from Chelsea on the final day of his historic season with Leicester, Ranieri thought it would be respectful to bring the tradition to Italian football.

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Ranieri encourages guard of honour

Ranieri explained earlier in the week that he would acknowledge Antonio Conte's champions this way and proved to be a man of his word when Sampdoria showed their class by stepping aside.

You can tell from both the footage and photographs that Ranieri and his players' gentlemanly show of respect was one that left a lasting impression, even if the San Siro was sadly empty.

Per Football Italia, Ranieri explained the gesture by saying: “I told Quagliarella and the lads it would be good to mark the occasion the way they do in England, and they immediately agreed with me.

“This is sport. I believe sport should be in these tiny gestures, especially for a team that won with four rounds to spare. We had it at Leicester, receiving the guard of honour at Chelsea in the next game.”

Ranieri: An inspiring figure

I think we could all benefit from being a little more Ranieri from time to time and it's clear that the finer details, such as tipping a hat to the champions, are something that mean a lot to him.

As much as we live in a world where players like Sergio Ramos and Luis Suarez will do everything in their power to win games, we can't stray too far away from the importance of sportsmanship.

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And while performing a guard of honour isn't a cast-iron guarantee of every player involved showing the upmost respect, it's still a classy gesture and sometimes the small things are most important.

Then again, even if you forget the wider picture, I think we can all just agree that it's the ten-billionth reason to think that Ranieri is a top, top bloke.