Seedorf subdued by Pienaar

Two products of the famed AFC Ajax youth system went head-to-head on Wednesday night at the San Siro with the prodigy outshining the master.

Fascinating duel
AC Milan's Clarence Seedorf may be the only man to have won the UEFA Champions League with three different teams but he was a distinct second best in his meeting with Steven Pienaar. Pienaar, a young South African who is starting to make a name for himself in Europe, was excellent despite his side suffering a 1-0 defeat after Filippo Inzaghi's 67th-minute strike.

Dominant first half
Pienaar started in central midfield alongside another graduate of the Ajax academy, captain Rafael van der Vaart, and the pair dominated the middle of the field in the opening 45 minutes before the defending European champions stepped up the pace after the interval.

Good vision
Sharp in the tackle, neat on the ball and showing good vision in the congested central areas, Pienaar looked extremely composed, especially when linking up with Ajax's excellent right-back, Hatem Trabelsi. It was Pienaar who almost the broke the deadlock after four minutes with a 20-yard snapshot which flew just over the crossbar.

Hustle and harry
For the rest of the half, Pienaar was content to hustle and harry the Milan midfield players with even the fiercely competitive Gennaro Gattuso looking surprisingly subdued. Pienaar failed to make quite the same impact after the break as Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo stepped it up. He was eventually replaced with ten minutes to go in favour of striker Victor Sikora as Ajax chased the equaliser.

Subdued Seedorf
While Pienaar impressed, Seedorf had a night to forget. Stuck out on the left side of midfield, the Dutchman never got into the game and was a passenger as Milan struggled to assert themselves in the early stages. There was no doubting his work ethic, as a crunching seventh-minute tackle on Trabelsi proved. But the hosts missed not only his composure on the ball, but also his ability to hit the killer pass.

Off the pace
He looked well off the pace, especially with Pienaar and Van der Vaart constantly snapping at his heels. After 64 minutes of mediocrity, the Dutch international was dragged off as coach Carlo Ancelotti attempted to increase his attacking options by introducing the Brazilian Serginho.