AC Milan will face off against Girona for the first time in their history tonight as they welcome them for the penultimate game of the first Champions League phase.
Milan have played 36 times in the European Cup/Champions League against teams from Spain, with 11 wins, 10 draws and 15 defeats completing what is a lop-sided record and not in Milan’s favour.
However, they did beat Real Madrid 3-1 earlier in the campaign, which was part of a run of four straight victories in the competition, propelling the Rossoneri towards the top eight.
Our pre-match preview has the latest team news for both sides as well as some insight on the opponents from Catalonia, while below are the best match stats ahead of the contest.
Milan have faced 11 different Spanish opponents in European competition to date, but this will be their first such meeting with Girona. Meanwhile, the Spanish side have never previously faced an Italian team.
Milan have won their last two matches against Spanish teams, with the most recent of those coming away to Real Madrid on MD4 this season (3-1). They’ve never previously won three in a row against such opposition in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League.
Milan have won their last four UEFA Champions League matches – in the two previous campaigns they’ve strung together runs of 5+ wins in a row, they have reached the final (six in a row in 1992-93, five in 2004-05), although they did end as runners-up both times.
Girona have lost their first three away UEFA Champions League games without scoring a single 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 have lost five of their six UEFA Champions League games this season (W1). The only Spanish team to lose six in one season is Villarreal in 2011-12.
This will be Sérgio Conceição’s first UEFA Champions League game in charge of Milan. The Portuguese has won eight of his last 10 matches in the group/league phase of the competition (L2), although none of the last three Milan bosses have won their opening UCL game with the club (Massimiliano Allegri the last to do so – 2-0 v Auxerre in 2010-11).
