Milans El Shaarawy out of Ajax clash

AC Milan's Italian international striker Stephane El Shaarawy's frustrating season continued on Monday as he was ruled out of Tuesday's Champions League match with Ajax because of a foot injury.The 21-year-old -- who has played just twice this season because of a mixture of injury and being left out by coach Massimiliano Allegri -- has a fractured left foot, the club announced."El Shaarawy, who was called up for the game has not been able to travel to the Netherlands because of a tiny fracture of his left foot," Milan announced in a statement.With El Shaarawy out Allegri will likely select Mario Balotelli and Alessandro Matri up front, Slovenian Valter Birsa -- who scored their winner on Saturday in the 1-0 win over Sampdoria in what was only their second victory in six Serie A games -- will fill the role of playmaker.Milan travel to Amsterdam on the back of beating Celtic 2-0 in their opening group match while Ajax slumped to a 4-0 defeat by Barcelona.

Source: AFP