"Clarence Seedorf has brought, as the Spanish say, 'confianza' to this group," Rai radio broadcaster Francesco Repice told me after yesterday's AC Milan press conference in Madrid. Confianza can mean several things, but, from listening to the Milan coach during a long session with the media and later watching him lead his side through training at the Estadio Vicente Calderón, it seemed to me that all definitions could easily have applied. Confianza – confidence, trust, familiarity, informality, faith.
"The Milan supporters are in love with him; as a player he won everything with them," Repice added. Indeed, two of the 37-year-old's four UEFA Champions League titles were lifted with the Rossoneri during a ten-year spell at the club between 2002 and 2012. Breezing through questions in Italian, Spanish – he was also a European Cup winner with Real Madrid CF in ’98 – and English on Monday, Seedorf's calming demeanour belied his prediction of what he described as the "hard battle ahead," against Atlético tonight. "We have to score goals [but] this tie is still open," he added with a smile.