The lowdown on Athletic Club

The first home fixture in La Liga brings Athletic Club to the Estadi Olimpic for a 7pm CEST kick-off. Here’s the lowdown on the team they call The Lions.

Where are they from?

The city of Bilbao is the tenth largest in Spain with a population of almost 350,000, although the ‘Greater Bilbao’ metropolitan area is home to getting on for a million people. It is the main city of the Basque Country, which has its own language and culture. Bilbao is a highly industrialised city and its most famous landmark is the Guggenheim Museum.

Club history

Due to being a port connected to Britain, Bilbao was one of the first cities in Spain to develop a football culture, and the Athletic Club was founded one year before FC Barcelona in 1898.

In the early years of the 20^th century, the rivalry between Athletic and Barça was probably the most intense in the country. But as the years went by, the traditional friendship between Basques and Catalans was reflected more and more on the football field as they were united against a ‘common enemy’ in the rising Real Madrid.

Athletic remain, along with Barça and Real Madrid, one of just three clubs never to have been relegated out of the first division. They have won the league eight times, but never since have not won either since their double winning campaign in 1983/84. And they are second in the all-time list for Spanish Cup victories (24) the latest coming last season when they ended a 40-year drought by beating Mallorca on penalties in the final.

The club continues to observe the tradition (it has never been an official policy) of only fielding players raised in the Basque football system. It is testimony to the quality of football in the region that Athletic have remained so competitive in the face of the ‘globalisation’ of football.

Head-to-head

In January of this year, Athletic knocked Barça out of the Copa del Rey for the third time in five years, and the Basques were also victorious in the Spanish Super Cup of 2021. But in remarkable contrast to those setbacks in knockout competitions, the Catalans have remained solid in the league, losing just one of their last 21 meetings with the side from Bilbao.

Athletic Club are winless away to Barça since 2000/01, when they Jupp Heynckes led them to 2-1 victory at Camp Nou with goals from Urzaiz and Ezquerro.

But after back-to-back 4-0 wins, the last three meetings have been very tight affairs. The sides were heading for a 0-0 draw at the Estadi Olimpic last October before Marc Guiu sensationally scored on his debut just seconds after coming on as a late substitute. There was no late rescue in the return at San Mamés, and that game did end 0-0.

Last ten meetings
03/03/24 (LIGA) Athletic 0-0 Barça
24/01/24 (COPA) Athletic 4-2 Barça
22/10/23 (LIGA) Barça 1-0 Athletic
12/03/23 (LIGA) Athletic 0-1 Barça
23/10/22 (LIGA) Barça 4-0 Athletic
27/02/22 (LIGA) Barça 4-0 Athletic
20/01/22 (COPA DEL REY) Athletic 3-2 Barça
21/08/21 (LIGA): Athletic 1-1 Barça
17/04/21 (COPA DEL REY): Athletic 0-4 Barça
31/01/21 (LIGA): Barça 2-1 Athletic

Form guide

Athletic finished fifth in the league last season and will be playing in the Europa League in 2024/25.

In the preseason they won all three friendlies played at home, but lost all four on the road (at Burgos, Sporting Lisbon, Aston Villa and Stuttgart). They began their league campaign with a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Getafe. 

The squad

Athletic are into a new era after the departure of stalwarts Raúl García, Iker Muniain and Dani García, with the main replacements being midfielder Álvaro Djaló, signed from Braga, and Andoni Gorosabel, who arrives on a free from Alaves.

Most capped internationals
Unai Simón (Spain, 46), Nico Williams (Spain, 20), Iñaki Williams (Ghana, 17), Daniel Vivian (Spain, 4), Oihan Sancet (Spain, 4)

Barça connections
Central midfielder Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta spent one season at Barça B before signing for Las Palmas. With a spell at Mallorca in between, he joined Athletic last summer.

The boss

Ernesto Valverde is a familiar face at Barça. He played for Barça from 1988–1991 and then returned as manager from 2017–2020, guiding the club to two Liga titles and one Copa del Rey. This is his third stint as boss of Athletic, for whom he made 170 appearances in his playing days.

Valverde has also managed Espanyol, Valencia and Villarreal in Spain, and also Olympiacos, with whom he won three Greek league championships.