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Match details

Sevilla FC-Athletic Club

Matchday 29 LALIGA EA Sports

Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán

Sunday 16 March 16:15 CET

History

Hailing from Bilbao, Athletic Club are known for their policy of recruiting and only playing players from the Basque Country. The club, which was founded in 1898, have won eight league titles and 24 Copa del Rey titles – the second most of any team in Spain and the most successful overall from the Basque region. They have played 32 seasons of European football, reaching the final of the 1977 UEFA Cup and 2012 Europa League before losing to Juventus and Atlético Madrid. Despite challenges in the modern era, including several managerial changes, Athletic recently ended a 40-year wait for a major trophy with victory on penalties in the 2024 Copa del Rey – played here in Seville at the Estadio La Cartuja – over RCD Mallorca.

Standings

After finishing 5^th last season, Athletic Club once again find themselves riding high in the table and are currently 4^th ahead of kick off on 49 points and firmly in the hunt for an automatic Champions League qualification. Since February, it is three wins in eight games in all competitions, but they will be boosted by a comeback win against Italian side AS Roma in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 having lost the first leg 2-1 in Rome before winning 3-1 at San Mamés in midweek.

Last five meetings

29/9/24 Athletic Club 1-1 Sevilla

19/5/24 Athletic Club 2-0 Sevilla

4/1/24 Sevilla 0-2 Athletic Club

27/4/23 Athletic Club 0-1 Sevilla

8/10/22 Sevilla 1-1 Athletic Cub

Key player: Iñaki Williams

Forward Iñaki Williams is a talisman for the side from Bilbao and is now in his 11^th season with the club having progressed through the youth ranks. An ever-dependent, able to play out wide but also through the middle the Ghanian international links up with his younger brother Nico to deadly effect. Between 2016 and 2023 he played in a La Liga record 251 consecutive games. This season he has played in 39 games in all competitions playing over 3000 minutes and has contributed 10 goals and nine assists (eight of the assists coming in the league – the third highest in the league).

Coach: Ernesto Valverde

Ernesto Valverde enjoyed a 14-year playing career with the likes of Espanyol, Barcelona, and Athletic Bilbao making over 250 La Liga appearances. After retiring, he became a manager, winning titles with Olympiacos and Barcelona. He led Barcelona to a league and cup double in 2018 and returned to Athletic Bilbao in 2022, winning the Copa del Rey in 2023 (Athletic’s first major trophy in 40 years) and finishing fifth in La Liga.

Player links

Of the current squads neither have any player to have played for the other side.

Going back further some of the players to have played for both teams during their career include Fernando Llorente, Juan José Valencia, Patxi Ferreira and Luis de la Fuente Castillo.

Classic meeting

UEFA Europa League quarter-finals (second leg)

14 April 2014

Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán

Under the guidance of Unai Emery and chasing a historic three Europa League titles in a row, we had overcome Molde and Basel in the knockout rounds before being drawn against Athletic Club. In the first leg at San Mamés, Aritz Aduriz have given Athletic the lead in the first half before goals from Timothée Kolodziejcza and Vicente Iborra gave us a narrow lead heading to the Sánchez-Pizjuán. Aduriz once again scored before Kevin Gameiro put us ahead in the tie but Athletic fought back and a Raúl García goal forced extra time. A dramatic penalty shoot-out followed with the first six penalties being scored before David Soria saved from Beñat and then Kevin Gameiro eventually stepped up to send us through to the semi-finals.