SEEDORF REVIVAL

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The much anticipated revival at AC Milan after the arrival of Clarence Seedorf has not materialised as the club lost their 10th league match of the season after a 1-0 defeat against Udinese during the weekend.

Seedorf rested a number of key players for this match in the hope of keeping them fresh for the midweek Champions League encounter against Atletico Madrid. The likes of Kaka and Mario Balotelli were not available from the start. The move hurt the club immensely after they looked devoid of quality when compared with the Udinese team.

Milan were coming on the back of the 2-0 defeat against Juventus, but this latest defeat has pushed them to the 10th place in the table. Any hope of qualifying at least for the Europa league places has vanished, as Milan look on course to being without any form of European football for the first time in more than a decade. Antonio Di Natale scored the only goal of the game in this defeat. After the match, Seedorf said that there is a bitter taste at the club, but they need to quickly refocus and think about the upcoming match against Atletico Madrid.

Milan trial the Spanish outfit by a 1-0 aggregate score after Diego Costa scored in the final few minutes of the first leg.

"Analyse the stats and you notice that it was a balanced match, with lots of chances on both sides. In terms of individuals, [Mario] Balotelli, [Valter] Birsa and [Cristian] Zapata got some playing time. The result leaves a bitter taste. We need to start again. We have to think about Atletico Madrid. This match doesn't cancel out all the good things that we did beforehand. If anything we need to continue growing. The international matches had an impact, but I'm not looking for excuses,” said Seedorf.