AC Milan will aim to enter the UEFA Champions League top eight when they welcome Girona to San Siro on Wednesday.
Matchday 7 of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League will end on Wednesday with nine games. The action on the day will start with two early matches before it ends with seven simultaneous fixtures, including AC Milan vs Girona at San Siro.
AC Milan could not have asked for a worse start to the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League, losing the first two games to be in the lower reaches of the standings. However, the Serie A giants have turned their form and fortunes around since then, winning four successive matches to occupy a spot in the playoff positions. A victory on Wednesday will likely take the Rossoneri into the top eight.
However, Sergio Conceicao has seen the high of his early days as the AC Milan manager disappear, with the Rossoneri losing 2-0 to Juventus this past weekend. As for Girona, the top-four finish in La Liga has been somewhat of a curse as they have struggled to embark on long winning runs this term due to the fixture pile-up.
Michel’s men have also endured a disappointing UEFA Champions League campaign, winning only one of their six games thus far. Their three-point haul has left them on the cusp of ending their European adventure next week.
Wednesday’s clash will be the first-ever competitive match featuring AC Milan and Girona, and The Hard Tackle looks closer at the upcoming meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
AC Milan
Sergio Conceicao has a roster issue hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The AC Milan manager might be bereft of the services of as many as seven first-team players vs Girona on Wednesday.
Fikayo Tomori is the latest absentee, as he serves a one-match suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards. The English international has joined Malick Thiaw (hamstring), Alessandro Florenzi (knee), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (muscle), Noah Okafor (calf), and Samuel Chukwueze (muscle) on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Conceicao is sweating over Christian Pulisic’s fitness.
Mike Maignan will take his spot between the sticks, with AC Milan lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him vs Girona on Wednesday. The backline should feature Emerson Royal, Matteo Gabbia, Strahinja Pavlovic, and Theo Hernandez.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Ismael Bennacer, Youssouf Fofana, and Tijjani Reijnders, with the latter providing the forward thrust from the central areas. Finally, Alvaro Morata will spearhead the AC Milan attack against Girona, with Rafael Leao and Yunus Musah being the two wide attackers. Pulisic will be a backup option on the bench if he is available.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Maignan; Emerson, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Hernandez; Bennacer, Fofana, Reijnders; Musah, Morata, Leao
Girona
Unlike his counterpart in the AC Milan dugout, Michel has greeted a positive update on the team news front ahead of the trip to San Siro. The Girona manager will be without only two first-team players on Wednesday.
Miguel Gutierrez and Bojan Miovski are the only absentees, with the duo recovering from ankle injuries. However, Arnaut Danjuma is fit and available after recovering from illness. The Dutchman is in the travelling squad to take on AC Milan this midweek.
Paulo Gazzaniga will be the automatic pick between the sticks, with Girona lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs AC Milan on Wednesday. The backline should feature Arnau Martinez, David Lopez, Ladislav Krejci, and Daley Blind.
As for the midfield unit, Jhon Solis and Ivan Martin should pair up in the double pivot, aiming to keep things tight in the middle of the park. Donny van de Beek will likely reprise the no. 10 role, with Viktor Tsygankov and Bryan Gil being the two wide attackers. Finally, Abel Ruiz will lead the line for Girona against AC Milan.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga; Martinez, David Lopez, Krejci, Blind; Solis, Martin; Tsygankov, van de Beek, Gil; Ruiz
Key Stats
- AC Milan have faced 11 Spanish opponents in European competition thus far, but Wednesday’s tie will be their first-ever game vs Girona. Meanwhile, the White and Reds have never previously faced an Italian team.
- AC Milan have won their last two matches against Spanish teams, with the most recent of coming away to Real Madrid on Matchday 4 this season (3-1). They have never previously won three successive games against Spanish opposition in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League.
- AC Milan have won their last four UEFA Champions League matches. In the two previous campaigns they strung together runs of 5+ wins, they reached the final (six successive victories in 1992/93 and five in 2004/05), although they ended as runners-up both times.
- Girona have lost their first three away UEFA Champions League games without scoring a goal. In the competition’s history, the only side to lose their first four without scoring is SK Rapid Wien between 1996 and 2005.
- Girona are the only side in this season’s UEFA Champions League yet to attempt a shot from a “fast break”, while their direct speed of 1.39 metres per second is the second-lowest of any side, ahead only of Shakhtar Donetsk (1.33 m/s).
Player to Watch
Rafael Leao
Alvaro Morata and Viktor Tsygankov were viable candidates for this section, but we have picked Rafael Leao as our Player to Watch for Wednesday’s clash. With Christian Pulisic touch-and-go, Sergio Conceicao will hope the Portuguese international can step up. However, Leao has produced some impressive numbers in the UEFA Champions League.
Only Edon Zhegrova (39) has made more dribbles in the UEFA Champions League this term than Leao (38). His current per 90 minutes tally of 7.6 in 2024/25 is the second-most by an AC Milan player since 2003/04, behind only Leao himself in 2021/22 (8 per 90). The 25-year-old will look to translate his efficient dribbling into a tangible end product on Wednesday.
Prediction
AC Milan 2-1 Girona
AC Milan might not have been too convincing in the UEFA Champions League this seasonHowever, Girona’s struggles mean anything other than three points will be a disappointing result for the Rossoneri. Michel’s charges have been sitting ducks on the road this season, losing all three away UEFA Champions League games thus far.
Meanwhile, Sergio Conceicao has a solid recent record in the opening stage of the UEFA Champions League, winning eight of his last ten matches in the group/league phase of the competition (L2). However, none of the three most recent AC Milan bosses have won their opening UCL game with the club (Massimiliano Allegri was the last to do so – 2-0 vs Auxerre in 2010/11).
The Portuguese tactician should buck the trend, with Rafael Leao and Alvaro Morata delivering the goods in the final third, although Girona should not go down without fighting. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-1 win for Conceicao and his charges.
