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Ancelotti: Kaka's better than 'Dinho Wednesday 1 November, 2006

Carlo Ancelotti claims hat-trick hero Kaka is the “best player in the world right now” – better than Milan target Ronaldinho.

“Kaka is the best player in the world right now. He does extraordinary things with great simplicity and efficiency,” said the Coach after the 4-1 Champions League win over Anderlecht.

“Kaka is the most decisive player on the planet. Considering the way he plays and how he affects the results, I can’t see anyone better out there, including Ronaldinho.”

The Rossoneri have been heavily linked with Brazilian star Ronaldinho, but Ancelotti hinted that he would prefer to keep the players at his disposal.

The Coach was even happier with Gilardino’s late strike – his first ever Champions League goal.

“Maybe Gilardino’s one goal was more important than Kaka’s three! We had waited such a long time for this moment. This week he broke through in Serie A and the Champions League, so he’ll be back to his old self again.”

Milan aren’t quite qualified yet, as AEK Athens earned a 1-0 victory over 10-man Lille in the other Group H game, but they are nonetheless five points clear at the top.

“We thought this result would take us through, but we still need a point and will try to take our chances in Athens. Milan played well today, even if we struggled a little at the back, but the strikers were in excellent form.

There was bad news, though, as Kakha Kaladze suffered a suspected thigh strain in the warm-up and Alessandro Nesta came off during the first half with a shoulder problem.

“I don’t think either of them will be ready for next weekend. Now we’ve got a bit of a shortage at the back. We have been more vulnerable in defence recently, so we have to work on that, but at least we’ve ended our goal drought.”

Ancelotti explained his tactical choices against the Belgians, resting Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo.

“I thought we’d need to push forward right from the start, so I opted for a more attacking midfield with Yoann Gourcuff and Clarence Seedorf, so Cristian Brocchi was then in front of the defence. Yoann had been out for a month, so he didn’t have 90 minutes in his legs.”

Despite the 4-1 scoreline, there were some hairy moments towards the end with Anderlecht repeatedly risking a second.

“We started brilliantly, but after our third goal we came under pressure, perhaps we relaxed a little bit.”

Now that their European qualification is all but assured, will Milan focus more on their Scudetto ambitions, even if they’re 14 points adrift of leaders Inter and Palermo?

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to catch up in Serie A or not, but we certainly have to do better than in the last six games, where we dropped far too many points. Our performances in the League have got to improve.”

Football Italia

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