On 28 September 2008, the derby was played at the San Siro stadium. Milan-Inter is something more than a derbies at that moment. On the bench with the Nerazzurri is José Mourinho, the prophet who two years later will lead to the Treble, even if at that moment no one could have known it. Instead, on the pitch with the Rossoneri is Ronaldinho Gaucho, one of the best players of his generation, bought by Barcelona to the extreme pleasure of their president, Silvio Berlusconi. 22 billion lire to have the funniest footballer on the planet, certainly the best in the last five years. However, he arrived at Milan with the fame of Gordon, with a few extra kilos and the idea that he could play on a small patch of ground.
On September 28, however, Ronaldinho is the brightest star of the derby. In the thirty-sixth minute the Brazilian broke the deadlock, giving Carlo Ancelotti’s Milan the three points. It seems like almost a century has passed reading the names of those who were there and those who made the history of that derby, which ended 1-0 for the Rossoneri.
These are Ronaldinho’s words a few days after his first goal for the Rossoneri. “I will never be able to forget the first goal with Milan. An important goal and moreover it came in the derby. I think it was the beginning of a beautiful adventure. I had already played with Barcelona at the Meazza and now that I am a Milan player I feel at home. It’s very important for me to be able to work these days because I needed more physical work and I hope to return as soon as possible to the best of my ability to be able to help Milan.” There will be 95 appearances with the AC Milan shirt, with 26 goals, in two and a half years.