AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini says the Rossoneri takes the Club World Championship very seriously.

Milan will travel to Japan next month to win the trophy and Maldini told fifa.com: "We attach great importance to this event because it allows you to become a world champion, it is the peak for a soccer club.

"It's a road that I've traveled several times during my career and, unfortunately, in recent times not ended with a victory. The first two times I played the Intercontinental Cup, I won but then I lost in '93, in '94 and in 2003 and it is always a big disappointment to leave the field defeated because it is a competition for which it is difficult to qualify, it is a shame to let such a chance escape."