On August 28, Milan travelled to Ascoli Piceno, the historic city in Italy’s Marche region known as the City of a Hundred Towers.
An unusually large wave of supporters in red-and-black shirts poured into the city.
The opening match of the new Serie A season would see AC Milan visit newly promoted Ascoli at the Stadio Cino e Lillo Del Duca.
Milan’s team bus slowly pulled into the stadium.
The moment Kaka, Shevchenko, and the others stepped off, the travelling supporters erupted into cheers and applause.
Kaka immediately spotted plenty of fans wearing his number 22 shirt.
He raised a hand and waved.
“Oh my god!
He looked at me!!!!!”
“He waved at me, Mom!”
“Aaaahhh!!!!”
That small gesture nearly caused a riot.
Screams exploded from the crowd, and several excited supporters surged toward the barriers.
Ascoli’s security staff desperately held the line, faces red from the effort, while more than one of them shot Kaka an accusing look.
Kaka awkwardly lowered his hand.
Right.
Maybe no more waving.
He quickly followed the rest of the squad inside.
…
There was almost no sense of pressure in Milan’s dressing room.
You could tell from the players.
You could tell from Ancelotti.
Everyone looked relaxed.
After all, this was Ascoli.
A newly promoted side returning to Serie A after thirteen years away.
They hadn’t even secured promotion in the most straightforward way, only benefiting after clubs above them ran into problems.
Naturally, Milan’s players weren’t particularly worried.
The travelling supporters felt the same way.
A huge number of them had made the trip mostly because they wanted to see Milan’s newly assembled squad in action.
The midfield looked stacked.
The attack looked terrifying.
They wanted to watch that firepower tear through someone.
So before the match had even started, Milan’s supporters had already turned the stadium atmosphere into a festival.
In their minds, this was going to be a massacre.
And Kaka thought exactly the same thing.
In the original timeline, Milan had actually stumbled here.
Ascoli had stubbornly held them to a 1-1 draw at home, producing an upset right at the start of the season.
But things were different now.
This Kaka wasn’t the same player anymore.
After the system had rebuilt his body and enhanced his dribbling, weak opponents had become his favourite kind of match.
Less effort.
More opportunities.
Easy stats.
What wasn’t there to love?
Kaka changed into his kit and protective gear with the others.
Ancelotti gave a few simple instructions, then led the team toward the tunnel.
Compared with Milan’s relaxed attitude, Ascoli’s players looked completely different.
Every one of them was tense.
Focused.
Hungry.
The way they stared at Milan made it look as though they wanted to rip a piece out of the European champions.
For the season opener, Ancelotti once again went with his familiar 4-4-2.
Why change what worked?
If a system kept winning, there was no need to reinvent it just for the sake of looking clever.
Goalkeeper: Dida
Defence: Cafu, Jaap Stam, Nesta, Kaladze
Midfield: Ambrosini, Pirlo, Serginho, Kaka
Forwards: Shevchenko, Gilardino
Kaka occupied the most advanced midfield role.
His job was to connect midfield with Sheva and Gilardino while also giving him the freedom to surge forward whenever space opened up.
Which, considering his current abilities…
Was exactly where he wanted to be!
Looked at more closely, Milan’s setup was really closer to a 4-3-1-2.
On the other side, Ascoli also lined up in a 4-4-2.
As a newly promoted side with nothing to lose, they clearly had no intention of sitting back and showing Milan too much love.
Goalkeeper: Coppola
Defence: Carbone, Cudini, Lauro, Tosto
Midfield: Foggia, Cristiano, Parola, Fini
Forwards: Quagliarella, Ferrante
At first glance, it was a fairly anonymous lineup.
Most of these players would only spend a brief period in Serie A before fading from the top level after Ascoli were eventually relegated again.
A few would go on to achieve something.
The most famous was obviously Fabio Quagliarella.
A specialist in ridiculous goals from ridiculous positions.
His performances at Ascoli would help earn him a move to Sampdoria, and later in his career he would become a long-serving Serie A striker and an Italy international.
Another was Pasquale Foggia, an attacking midfielder actually on loan from AC Milan, who would also go on to represent Italy.
Among the rest, a handful would build respectable Serie A careers.
Most, however…
There wasn’t much point introducing them.
The referee blew the whistle.
Beeeep!
Kick-off.
And surprisingly, it was Ascoli who started more aggressively.
For the opening minutes, the newly promoted side pushed forward with enthusiasm.
Foggia and the wide players repeatedly joined the attacks, trying to combine with the forwards and put pressure on Milan’s goal.
Unfortunately…
Every attack died against Milan’s experienced back line.
Yes, Milan’s defenders were old.
Yes, they needed time to reach full fitness.
And yes, their stamina would become a problem over the course of a long season.
But even at sixty or seventy percent of their best, that defence was still more than enough to look like an iron wall against a team without a truly elite attacker.
Ascoli attacked fiercely for the first ten minutes.
Nothing came of it.
Instead, under Milan’s defensive pressure and midfield pressing, their play gradually became more hurried and awkward.
Then their momentum finally began to fade.
And Kaka, now fully warmed up, decided it was time to start playing.
“Kaka receives the ball from Pirlo!”
“He turns and goes straight at Cristiano!”
“Beautiful shoulder feint!”
“Nutmeg!”
“Kaka is through!”
He accelerated.
The commentator’s voice immediately rose.
“Kaka keeps carrying the ball forward!”
“Ever since the end of last season’s Champions League Final, he seems like a completely different player!”
“His style has changed dramatically, and even his personality on the pitch feels more aggressive!”
Kaka continued forward.
Parola rushed across to challenge him.
“Oh!”
“Shoulder-to-shoulder!”
“Oh!
Kaka doesn’t back down!”
Parola hit him hard.
Kaka stayed upright.
Parola didn’t.
The Ascoli midfielder lost his balance and stumbled away.
Kaka kept going.
The moment he burst past Parola, Shevchenko immediately started his run and raised a hand calling for the pass.
Kaka glanced up.
No opening.
Cudini and Carbone were tight to Sheva, completely blocking the direct passing lane.
So Kaka changed direction.
He dragged the ball sideways, avoiding Lauro’s challenge, and carried it across the edge of the penalty area.
Lauro realised he’d overcommitted.
His face changed instantly.
He scrambled back desperately, trying to recover his position.
Too late.
He rushed in again.
Kaka waited.
Then flicked his right foot around the ball.
Thump!
Elastico.
Clean.
Sharp.
“Ah..” And straight through Lauro’s legs.
The defender dropped onto the turf.
“Kaka!”
“An Elastico!”
“Lauro is down!”
Kaka took another touch forward.
Looked up.
Then hit it.
Boom!
“SHOT!!!”
“GOOOOOAL!”
“KAKA!”
“The first goal of the new season!”
“He tears through three defenders and smashes Milan into the lead!
Like the wind!
Absolutely unstoppable!”