AC Milan vs Girona facts

AC Milan will look for their fifth successive UEFA Champions League victory at home to Girona, who are aiming to add to their single league phase win, on Matchday 7.

The seven-time European champions took their points total for this season to 12 with a 2-1 win against Crvena Zvezda at San Siro on Matchday 6, when Girona went down 0-1 at home to Liverpool. The Spanish debutants have three points, from a 2-0 home victory against Slovan Bratislava on Matchday 3, losing their other five games.

Milan are under new management for this game having replaced Paulo Fonseca with Sérgio Conceição on 30 December.

This is the teams' first fixture and Girona's first game against a club from Italy.

Form guide

Milan

Record vs Spanish clubs: W20 D14 L26 F81 A89
Home record vs Spanish clubs: W12 D7 L9

Milan have won their last two games against Spanish teams, beating holders Real Madrid 3-1 away on Matchday 4 – their second successive victory in Spain.

The Rossoneri have, however, lost their last three home matches against Spanish clubs, going down 1-2 against Atlético de Madrid in the 2021/22 group stage.

A 2-0 defeat of Barcelona in the 2012/13 round of 16 first leg – a tie they went on to lose 2-4 on aggregate – is Milan's only win in their last ten home matches against Spanish visitors (D5 L4).

The Rossoneri are making their fourth successive appearance in the Champions League and a 21st overall, three behind Juventus's Italian record of 24.

Milan were Champions League winners in 1994, 2003 and 2007 and runners-up in 1993, 1995 and 2005.

In 2022/23 Milan reached the knockout rounds for the first time since 2013/14 but were unable to repeat the feat last season, finishing third behind Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain in Group F. They went on to reach the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals, where they lost an all-Italian tie to Roma (0-1 h, 1-2 a).

Milan have won only 13 of their last 37 Champions League games (D9 L15). Beaten 1-3 at home by Liverpool on Matchday 1 before defeating Club Brugge by the same score on Matchday 3, their defeat of Crvena Zvezda last time out made it nine victories in their last 24 home fixtures, Matchday 1 to final (D7 L8).

Milan were second in Serie A in 2023/24, 19 points behind champions Inter. It was the third time in four seasons they had finished in the top two.

Stefano Pioli was replaced in the summer after five years as Milan coach, Fonseca appointed as his successor before himself making way for Conceição last month.

Girona

Girona are the 14th Spanish side to feature in the Champions League proper – one short of Germany's competition record.

Indeed, this is the first time Girona have taken part in UEFA competition. Leipzig, in 2017, are the only previous club to have made their European debut in the Champions League proper, an honour Girona have shared with Brest this season.

Girona are one of five clubs to be making their Champions League debuts in 2024/25, along with Aston Villa, Bologna, Brest and Slovan Bratislava.

Míchel guided Girona to third place in last season's La Liga table on 81 points, 14 behind champions Real Madrid and only four adrift of runners-up Barcelona. Atlético de Madrid were fourth, five points behind Girona.

That was also Los Blanquivermells' highest league placing in what was only their fourth season in the Spanish top flight; they had finished tenth in both 2017/18 and 2022/23 and 18th in 2018/19, when they were relegated.

Girona have lost all three away league phase games without scoring, going down 0-1 at Paris Saint-Germain and Sturm Graz either side of a 0-4 loss at PSV Eindhoven on Matchday 4.

Links and trivia

Have played in Spain:
Álvaro Morata (Real Madrid 2008–14,2016/17, Atlético de Madrid 2019–20, 2022–24)
Theo Hernández (Atlético de Madrid 2007–16, Alavés 2016/17, Real Madrid 2017/18, Real Sociedad 2018/19)
Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal 2018–23)
Emerson Royal (Betis 2019–21, Barcelona 2021)
Alessandro Florenzi (Valencia 2020)
Yunus Musah (Valencia 2020–23)
Matteo Gabbia (Villarreal 2023 loan)

Morata scored a hat-trick past Paulo Gazzaniga on 3 January 2024 – although Girona ultimately won 4-3 at home to Atlético de Madrid.

Have played in Italy:
David López (Napoli 2014–16)
Cristhian Stuani (Reggina 2007–09)
Pau López (Roma 2019–21)

Have played together:
Alessandro Florenzi & Pau López (Roma 2019/20)
Samuel Chukwueze & Arnaut Danjuma (Villarreal 2021–23)
Emerson Royal & Arnaut Danjuma (Tottenham 2023)
Emerson Royal & Bryan Gil (Tottenham 2022–24)

International team-mates:
Álvaro Morata & Bryan Gil (Spain)
Tijjani Reijnders & Daley Blind, Donny van de Beek, Arnaut Danjuma (Netherlands)

Latest news

Milan

Sérgio Conceição suffered his first defeat as Milan coach on Saturday, his side going down 2-0 at Juventus.

Milan have drawn three of their six Serie A games since Matchday 6, winning 1-0 at Verona on 20 December and 2-1 at Como on 14 January.

Tijjani Reijnders scored at Verona and in a 1-1 draw at home to Roma on 29 December to make it five league goals this season – a career best.

The draw against Roma was Paulo Fonseca's last in charge, fellow Portuguese coach Conceição named as his replacement on 30 December.

On 6 January, Milan lifted the Italian Super Cup by beating city rivals Inter, coming from 2-0 down thanks to goals by Theo Hernández, Christian Pulišić and Tammy Abraham.

Three days earlier the Rossoneri had defeated Juventus 2-1 in the semi-final, also coming from behind with Pulišić again on target.

Hernández also scored at Como, his 30th Milan goal taking him past Paolo Maldini as the top-scoring defender in club history.

Álvaro Morata and Pulišić were replaced after knocks against Como, when Malick Thiaw suffered a thigh injury; all were absent on Saturday.

Samuel Chukwueze has been sidelined since suffering a thigh injury against Roma, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek has not played since Matchday 6 with a similar problem and Noah Okafor has been out since suffering a calf injury in a 0-0 draw against Genoa on 15 December.

Alessandro Florenzi has not played this season due to a knee injury.

Girona

On Saturday Girona scored first at home to Sevilla but ultimately lost 1-2, making it five defeats in nine games in all competitions (W2 D2).

The Matchday 6 defeat at home against Liverpool was the second of three successive losses for Girona.

A 2-1 reverse at Mallorca in their next game on 14 December made it six games without a win in all competitions (D2 L4), Donny van de Beek's strike only Girona's third goal in that run.

Michel's side won their next two matches, beating Valladolid 3-0 at home on 20 December.

Girona kicked off 2025 with a 1-0 success at Alavés on 11 January – ending a run of four matches in all competitions without an away win (D2 L2).

Girona have only won ten of their 28 games this season (D5 L13).

They have kept nine clean sheets this season, including five away from home.

Yaser Asprilla started on Saturday having not played since suffering a sprained left ankle during the international break with Colombia before Christmas.

Portu missed the win at Alavés with an ankle injury, returning as an 89th-minute substitute on Saturday.

Bojan Miovski has not played since 7 December with a sprained ankle.

Miguel Gutiérrez was forced off in the first half of the match against Alavés due to a severe bruise on his ankle and missed Saturday's defeat.