Still in the mix for a precious top-eight finish, AC Milan will aim to continue their Champions League success streak at Girona’s expense on Wednesday.
Four straight wins have taken the Italian giants onto 12 points with two games to play, while Girona’s meagre tally of three sees the debutants languishing in the elimination places.
Though Milan looked to be in trouble after losing both of their first two league-phase fixtures, a subsequent run of wins – against Club Brugge, Real Madrid, Slovan Bratislava and Red Star Belgrade – has essentially booked at least a playoff place.
Last month’s 2-1 home victory over Red Star, in which Rafael Leao opened the scoring and Tammy Abraham bagged a late winner, means that the Rossoneri can now concentrate on targeting automatic qualification for the last 16.
While they have woken from their slumbers in Europe, Milan are still struggling to achieve any consistency on the domestic scene, having drawn three and won only two of six Serie A matches since the Champions League went into hibernation.
A mid-term change of management has had some effect, though, as new boss Sergio Conceicao recently inspired an underperforming squad to claim the Supercoppa Italiana with a week of his arrival, by virtue of overturning deficits against Juventus and city rivals Inter.
His four-game unbeaten start since replacing Portuguese compatriot Paulo Fonseca came to an end on Saturday, when Milan suffered a 2-0 league defeat to Juventus in Turin. That result left them eighth in the standings, 19 points adrift of top spot and with a big deficit to Italy’s top four.
Now, Conceicao prepares for his first Champions League contest in charge of the seven-time European champions, having won eight of his final 10 group fixtures as Porto coach.
European debutants this season, Girona have never previously faced Italian opponents in a competitive contest, so starting with a trip to the iconic San Siro represents quite an introduction.
The Catalan club have lost five of their six games so far, and last month’s defeat to Liverpool means that only two wins and a prayer can extend their campaign beyond January.
Realistically, a place in the knockout rounds is already beyond them, but they will want to restore some pride and avoid becoming just the second Spanish team to lose six times in one Champions League season – Villarreal previously did so in 2011-12.
Girona have failed to find the net since a Juanpe strike in their sole success against Slovan Bratislava, and they have lost all of their first three away matches without scoring – going down 1-0 to both Paris Saint-Germain and Sturm Graz, plus losing 4-0 to PSV Eindhoven.
All told, Michel’s men have won just four games on the road this season, partly accounting for their mid-table position in La Liga.
At the weekend, a 2-1 home defeat came despite Arnau Martinez heading Los Blanquivermells in front against the run of play at Estadi Montilivi, where Sevilla struck twice during the second half – including an 88th-minute winner.
Therefore, after last term’s heroics, Girona have still won only 10 times this season, meaning expectations may be low when they arrive in Italy.
