 Born in Brescia, Filippini emerged through his hometown Brescia Calcio's youth system, and stayed there for eight professional seasons, after having started – on loan – with amateurs Ospitaletto, the first of many teams he shared with his sibling Antonio.The pair made their Serie A debut on 31 August 1997, in a 1–2 away loss against Inter Milan.After one-and-a-half seasons on loan to Parma AC, Filippini moved alongside Antonio to U.S. Città di Palermo.