I walked in to the San Siro and the first thing I did was have a look at my squad. It was fairly good, but it wasn't jam-packed with world-class players. My financial status was secure as I had approx. $35 milllion. Strangely, I didn't make a single transfer for the first 4 months of the game. In December I sold Leonardo to Valencia for $24 mil. I soon picked up young Lazio forward Berretoni for $12 mil. He was a promising player who had the attributes of a champion.

My first season started off smoothly. My formation 4-3-2-1 was working well. I easily advanced into the quarter finals of the Champions League and held first for pretty much most of the season. I was doing well in the Italian Cup too, winning each round comfortably. I came up against a dangerous looking Arsenal in the quarters of the Champions League, but I demolished them with a 7-1 aggregrate. I faced Feyenoord in the semi's and went through 3-2. I was now in the Champions League final against the mighty Barcelona.

While I easily won the Serie A by 10 points over Fiorentina and took care of Lazio in the Italian Cup 4-1, my team looked a lot weaker than Barca's. They had stars like Kluivert, Luis Enrique, Petit, Thuram and Rivaldo, while I could only rely on my Ukraine champ, Shevchenko. The match was pretty boring, but it was tense though. 90 minutes went by and the scores were 0-0. The Golden Goal rule was now in place as extra time began.

In the 104th minute, Gattuso's pass found Shevchenko and he slotted home the winner to give Milan the Champions League for the 6th time ever. In my first season I had won every single title I compteted in- Serie A, Champions League and Italian Cup. I let go of Serginho to Valencia for $12 mil, and released Toma on a free transfer. I was Manager of the Year and was ranked 1 in the world. None of my players picked up a major award, although Shevchenko was Serie A Player of the Year and Top Goalscorer. He kicked 50 goals from 50 matches throughout the season.