Seedorf (left) and Kaka celebrate winning the 2007 Champions League with Milan

By Mandeep Sanghera

Clarence Seedorf is slightly uncomfortable about the money Real Madrid have splashed out recently but, like most, he cannot help being a fascinated onlooker to see how the Spanish club's 'galacticos' strategy materialises.

"They have invested," he laughed, part in disbelief and part at his own understatement when talking about the Bernabeu club's estimated £220m outlay last summer.

"For now there is a lot of pressure on Madrid because of the amount of money they have spent on the team and I'm curious to see how that is going to develop itself."

He will get a chance to enter the eye of the storm when he returns to his former club with AC Milan on Wednesday in a Champions League group match to make the mouth water.

Injured world record £80m signing Cristiano Ronaldo will be missing from the Real line-up but the game will give Seedorf the chance to see his former Rossoneri team-mate and friend, Kaka.

One of Kaka's strengths is that he quickly became a team player and knowing how to put his qualities at the disposal of the team Clarence Seedorf

The Brazilian playmaker left the San Siro for the Bernabeu for about £56m in June and, while Seedorf cannot praise Kaka enough, there will be no room for sentiment when the pair clash for 90 minutes.

"It will be strange," said 33-year-old Seedorf, who spent three years at Real. "We had six fantastic years together.

"We won everything together and became good friends. It was a big pleasure to play with him but now he is there I am going to try to beat him."

Kaka rose to iconic status in his time at Milan and Seedorf, puts the Brazilian's success down to a team ethic.

And this theme of putting the playing unit ahead of the individual is one he sees as crucial if Real Madrid are to dethrone bitter rivals Barcelona as La Liga and Champions League holders.

"One of Kaka's strengths is that he quickly became a team player and knowing how to put his qualities at the disposal of the team," he said.

"The thing is that this is a team sport and the individual quality can only come out when the team functions well.

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"Remember that Kaka and (the retired) Paolo Maldini were here during the last couple of years but Milan didn't really excel in the league and Champions League after 2007. It is about the team in the end."

With the array of attacking prowess at Real Madrid manager Manuel Pellegrini's disposal, the challenge is whether that can be balanced out with a resoluteness at the other end.

And, when asked about the importance of a defence in the success of a side, Seedorf, who won the European Cup with Real in 1998, replied: "Yes but defence in general.

"I can tell that even playing for AC Milan when we were playing our best games during the past five or six years, say until 2007, we had a great offence but we also had a great defensive part as a whole of the team and that brought the results in the end.

"When I see Barcelona play you see that both parts of the game are executed perfectly by the players and that's why they have been ruling in Europe.

"Madrid, hopefully for them, will be capable of putting those aspects together."

Those 'aspects' are qualities Seedorf and his San Siro team-mates are searching for as they look to kickstart a season in which they have so far spluttered along.

Under new manager Leonardo, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti after his departure to Chelsea, they have 12 points from eight Serie A games and lost to 1-0 FC Zurich in their last Champions League game.

Leonardo has had a tough time since becoming Milan coach

They earned a crucial 2-1 victory over Roma on Sunday to help stem the pressure but Seedorf is hoping a good result at the Bernabeu can be a springboard to build on.

"It's an important game, not only for the three points but also for the moment of AC Milan to show against an important team that we can be competitive," he said.

"We need some important victories and games. We lost our second game in the Champions League so we cannot lose. We have a lot at stake."

He added: "We have a new coach and we have to rebuild a team that is new from various points of view.

"Unfortunately, we haven't had the right results. We started well but we've played some good games, some bad games and were up and down.

"That didn't give the opportunity to proceed in a calm environment. But this is part of playing for a great club and it is up to us to turn things around soon.

"We haven't been playing consistently good and have certainly paid a high price for certain errors that we have made.

"That's part of the game and but I'm very confident that things can be turned around very soon."

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