Kaká the king of Milan

Kaká reflected on "a very special evening" after scoring his first UEFA Champions League hat-trick in AC Milan's 4-1 victory against RSC Anderlecht last night.

Crowd-pleaser
In a match that left Milan on the verge of the knockout stages, the brilliant Brazilian scored a sixth-minute penalty before starting and finishing a rapier-like counterattacking move on 22 minutes and then completing his hat-trick with a spectacular 56th-minute strike. Roland Juhász's header hinted at an Anderlecht recovery before Alberto Gilardino's late effort finished the contest but Kaká was unquestionably the man of the moment.

'Special evening'
"Scoring a hat-trick in the Champions League is really very special," he told uefa.com. "I've scored a hat-trick for Milan once before but this was my first in the Champions League and so it was a very special evening for me." With five goals in the competition already this season, Kaká is now joint top scorer with Didier Drogba – underlining his growing status as one of the game's leading players.

Cafu praise
Team-mate Cafu, who combined with Kaká for the second goal, considers him "the best there is" with the right-back claiming his international team-mate should be voted European Footballer of the Year: "You only need to look at what he does on the pitch. Just look at the facts and see how many matches he decides, how many defences he unhinges - he takes two or three players out at a time with his skill and I think he deserves to win the Ballon d'Or."

'Getting better'
However, the ever-modest Kaká insisted he still has much to learn. "It's a really good period in my career but I think I need to put on good displays when the side isn't playing well too - in the Italian championship, for example - but I think I'm getting better every day." The 4-1 win was a nice way to exorcise the ghosts of Saturday's 4-3 defeat by FC Internazionale Milano – another game in which Kaká scored – and he said his side's performance was a nice way to respond. "We continued from where we left off in the second half in the derby and carried it into this game."

'Best goal'
Even Kaká had to admit that his last goal of the night - his 16th in 39 UEFA Champions League games - was impressive, even by his standards. Picking the ball up from deep, he exchanged passes with Clarence Seedorf before beating two players and curling in a shot from 20 metres out. "It is one of best goals I've ever scored, mainly because it gave me my first Champions League hat-trick. That definitely makes it one of the best and most important goals I've scored."