AC Milan vs. Girona: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

Two sides in very different situations lock horns in the Champions league this week as AC Milan take on Girona.

• Date: 22/01/2025
• Kick-off time: 20:00
• Location: San Siro, Milan

Milan are currently 12th in the Champions League table with 12 points from six games. The Italian giants have had a good European campaign on the whole and now stand a very good chance of automatically progressing to the knockout rounds. Milan are just one point shy of the automatic qualification spots, and with their final two opponents being Girona and Dinamo Zagreb, it would not be arrogant of them to fancy their chances extremely heavily.

Milan haven’t been quite so good in Serie A, though, where they sit 8th in the table, six points shy of the top four. Their inconsistencies in the league forced them into a change of manager, as Paulo Fonseca was replaced by former Porto manager, Sérgio Conceição. Since Conceição’s arrival, Milan have enjoyed some good results, and they’ll be quietly confident about what they can achieve this season.

Milan reached the semi-finals of this competition two years ago, but that was their first semi-final appearance since 2006/07, when they last won the competition. Overall, it’s been a steep decline for Milan on the continental stage, and when they next reach the heights they were once accustomed to is a big question. It likely won’t be this season, but they still have enough firepower to make a nice run in the knockout stages.

Girona are currently 30th in the Champions League table with three points from six games. After what was a historic campaign for the Catalan club last season, Girona have very much been brought back down to Earth this year. As is always the case in these situations, Girona’s squad was decimated in the summer after such a successful season, and their replacements haven’t quite lived up to the standards of their predecessors. Girona are 8th in La Liga, and while they’re still a good side, they’re probably not Champions League quality.

They do, though, still have a very, very small chance of stealing a play-off spot. They need six points from their final two games (against Milan and Arsenal) while hoping a lot of results go their way involving the teams above them. Not likely, not even remotely so; but that tiny chance does exist, nevertheless.

Girona have really struggled in the absence of a talismanic forward this season, with no player having scored more than four goals in all competitions. Off the back of losing Artem Dovbyk - who scored 24 goals last season - to Roma in the summer, this campaign was always going to be a slog.

Should Girona make the play-offs, it would be a hugely dramatic outcome, but for a team that’s never played at this level, a win against a historic club like Milan would give their fans a night to remember.

This game will be televised live to all subscribed UK viewers on the TNT Sports red button.

AC Milan Team News:

Milan are set to be withoutChukwueze, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Álvaro Morata, Christian Pulisic and Alessandro Florenzi.

Given the lack of options, Milan could name the same starting XI that began the game against Juventus at the weekend.

Predicted lineup: Maignan; Emerson, Gabbia, Tomori, Hernández; Bennacer, Fofana, Reijnders; Musah, Abraham, Leão.

Girona Team News:

The La Liga outfit will be missing Arnaut Danjuma, Miguel Gutiérrez and Bojan Miovski, all of whom are out injured.

Donny van de Beek will be hoping for a recall to the starting XI for this one, while Cristhian Stuani could take the place of Abel Ruiz up top.

Predicted lineup: Gazzaniga; Martínez, López, Krejčí, Blind; Romeu, Martín; Tsygankov, Van de Beek, Gil; Stuani.

AC Milan:

Milan are in good form entering this game, with three wins, one draw and one defeat from their last five games. The Rossoneri fell to a 2-0 defeat in Turn at the hands of Juventus at the weekend, which came after a 2-1 win over Como, thanks to Theo Hernández and Rafael Leão, and a 1-1 draw with Cagliari, where Álvaro Morata registered on the scoresheet.

Before that, Milan mounted a dramatic comeback from 2-0 down to beat rivals Inter 3-2, with the goals coming from Christian Pulisic, Leão and Tammy Abraham, which followed a 2-1 win over Juventus thanks to Pulisic and a Federico Gatti own goal.

Girona:

Girona's form is poor on the whole, with the Catalans having won two and lost three of their last five games. On Saturday, Girona lost 1-2 to Sevilla after Arnau Martínez had given them the lead, a result that was preceded by a 1-0 win over Alavés - thanks to Jhon Solís - and a 3-0 win over Real Valladolid, courtesy of David López, Abel Ruiz and Arnaut Danjuma.

Those results were preceded by a 2-1 defeat away at Mallorca, despite Donny van de Beek's opener, and a 0-1 loss against Liverpool in this competition.

Girona's form in this competition has been woeful, whereas Milan have largely impressed, so with the game taking place at San Siro, it's hard to look past the Italians here.

Milan have four wins on the bounce in the Champions League, whereas Girona have lost all of their last three, so the 7-time winners are big favourites here.

Over 2.5 goals has occurred in all of Milan's last four Champions League games and two of Girona's last five, so we could be in line for a few here too. AC Milan 2-1 Girona.

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