On Wednesday in the Champions League, a goal scored by winger Rafael Leão in the first half enabled AC Milan to achieve a 1-0 home victory over Girona, putting the Italians in a favorable position to secure a place in the round of 16. In the 37th minute, Leão broke the deadlock with a remarkable shot into the roof of the net from a low cross delivered by Ismaël Bennacer. Bennacer won the ball near the halfway line and dribbled past Girona's midfield to create the opportunity for the Portuguese winger.

Seven-time European champions Milan, who last lifted the trophy in 2007, are sixth in the table on 15 points with the top eight earning automatic qualification for the round-of-16 stage.

On January 29, they will make a trip to face Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb in their final league phase fixture.

Girona, who are making their debut in this competition, have managed just one win in the league phase. Currently, they are 31st in the table with only three points. When they host Arsenal in their last game, they have no possibility of qualifying for the playoffs.

In the early stages of the match, Milan took the initiative. Girona's goalkeeper, Paulo Gazzaniga, was quickly called into action. He had to make saves early on to prevent a well - executed free kick by Tijjani Reijnders and a low - driven attempt by Leao towards the right post from finding the back of the net.

The hosts then struck the woodwork twice through Theo Hernández, who hit the bar, and Yunus Musah, who rattled the post from the edge of the area.

The visitors slowly grew into the game and both Donny van de Beek and Viktor Tsygankov worked Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan with good chances.

But Leão tempered their enthusiasm when he scored for the third consecutive Champions League game, having managed only three goals in his first 24 appearances in the competition prior to this run.

The last Milan player to score in three successive Champions League games was Zlatan Ibrahimović, who netted in five in a row between 2011 and 2012.

The visitors ended the first half with more possession, and Spain forward Bryan Gil thought he had equalised before the hour mark with a lovely curled shot inside the far post -an effort that was ruled out for offside.

Girona coach Michel replaced his entire front line when he made four changes around the 70-minute mark.

However, fresh legs were not enough to turn the match around and Milan extended their winning streak in Europe's elite club competition to five games.

In the two previous campaigns when Milan won five or more games in a row, they went on to finish runners-up in 1993 and 2005.