Matchday Menu: Clarence Seedorf makes his Champions League picks

A UEFA Champions League winner with Ajax, Real Madrid and AC Milan, Clarence Seedorf sizes up what Matchday 5 has to offer in the second episode of the Just Eat Matchday Menu series.

Must-watch match: Liverpool vs Real Madrid

These sides are meeting for the 12th time in Europe's top club competition, but a Liverpool vs Real Madrid game is always going to be a big occasion. The Reds have been looking fearsome under new Dutch coach Arne Slot but if Real Madrid have not been at their sharpest so far this season, Seedorf can see his old side raising their game under the Anfield floodlights.

"Liverpool is flying; Real Madrid is struggling a little bit at the moment so this is a perfect opportunity for Real Madrid to get back where they should be," says Seedorf. "It's going to be a tough one though."

The form guide, however, will offer plenty of comfort for Carlo Ancelotti's side: they have not lost in their last eight games against Liverpool (W7 D1) and won 5-2 on their last visit to Anfield, in the 2022/23 round of 16.

Player to watch: Tijjani Reijnders (Milan)

For Seedorf, 26-year-old midfielder Reijnders is starting to show his full potential at Milan, who visit Slovan Bratislava on Matchday 5. Should Reijnders' sharp spell in front of goal continue, it could be a long night for the Slovakian champions.

"Reijnders at this moment is really in a very good flow," Seedorf says of his fellow Dutchman. "He is improving his game; he's becoming more and more a goalscorer. Over the last year he has increased the opportunities he has during the game and now he is transforming them into goals, important goals."

AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders is "in a very good flow" according to Clarence SeedorfLightRocket via Getty Images

Matchday Meals

Seedorf's long, successful playing career meant that his diet was always tightly controlled. "I could really eat a lot," he remembered of his younger self. "I was always hungry."

All those away journeys (in domestic football as well as the Champions League) did not mean there were always great meal options for Seedorf and his team-mates, with pizza one of the few dishes he remembers being on the menu everywhere. "Pizza's always safe," he says. "Margherita for me."

His happiest food menu of his time at AC Milan was that players often received homemade ice cream after training sessions; "a little bit of sweet for the players when everything else was pretty much straightforward and dry and boring," he recalls. That being said, he remembers that when manager Fabio Capello removed all unhealthy food from his team's diet at Real Madrid "we won the league".

Clarence Seedorf training during his time at AC MilanGetty Images

Seedorf's dream midfielder

For the final item on his Matchday Menu, Seedorf was asked to pick between three seemingly perfect midfielders. While sampling fruit he answered questions about Paul Scholes (represented by a carton of mandarins), Luka Modrić (pineapple) and Andrea Pirlo (strawberries).

His conclusion? "I would not be able to choose because these guys are all amazing. They have such an impact on their teams and they're all unique in their own way."

Sample Dimitar Berbatov's Matchday Menu