Kaká cautious over Celtic challenge

AC Milan may have breathed a sigh of relief when they missed FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League draw, but in his latest diary entry for uefa.com Kaká warns not to underestimate Celtic FC when the two sides meet next month.

Concentration
Last time I said nobody was willing to draw Barcelona in the next round of the UEFA Champions League, but it doesn't mean Milan should feel lucky to have avoided them. At this point of the competition there are no easy ties. Ties that might look simple can end up being very tough. Sometimes it's better to draw a team with more tradition to keep everybody on their toes.

Nakamura threat
There are no easy sides in the UEFA Champions League, which has been proved time and again in recent years. Any slump can prove fatal. Celtic certainly aren't just hoping to enjoy qualifying for the knockout stages for the first time. I played them a couple of seasons ago with Milan and we had to work hard to win 3-1 at home and draw in Glasgow. Although Celtic have changed managers and some key players, I don't really think there have been major alterations to their playing philosophy. I remember as a team Celtic are very strong physically and look to use dead-ball situations to their advantage. This is certainly a very interesting ace up their sleeve now they have [Shunsuke] Nakamura and his free-kicks.

Ups and downs
People ask me if Milan's highs and lows in form can give Celtic some belief, but I prefer to think about our good European pedigree which always demands respect, even when we have been fluctuating between good and bad moments. We have a good chance to get things going in Serie A from next week and then build up for the UEFA Champions League ties against Celtic. Naturally, however, they will be looking to cause us problems but I don't see them performing like the sides we face in Serie A. Teams in the UEFA Champions League are big clubs used to going forward and getting results.

Scoring rival
A Brazilian journalist has teased me by saying that Nakamura's free-kick against Manchester United will make people scratch their heads when trying to decide the best goal of the UEFA Champions League so far. Before then there was that strike of mine against Anderlecht. I saw Nakamura's goal and was really impressed by how he hit the ball so well, let alone that the goal was so important for Celtic. Having said that, I'd love to score the most beautiful goal of this year's competition.

Training hard
As for Milan, we still have a lot of work to do before even thinking of Celtic. We have been training hard in Malta and I'm sure this will be good for us to patch up a few things and get ready for a very hard campaign. Not only do we have the UEFA Champions League to focus on, but we're in a complicated position in Serie A and need to guarantee a place in next year's UEFA Champions League, which is why nobody can talk about prioritising one or another competition. The first half of the season was hard on the domestic front because of the punishment handed to the club, but we can't look back now.

This is an abridged version of an article that appears in this week's edition of the uefa.com Magazine. To read the story in full, click here.