Hello and welcome to HYBR1D Powered by chinkseyMEDIA.
Media. As part of the 1K subscriber special,
I'm going to give you everything you need to
know about Athletic Club Bilbao. Found out more
about the Basque Club's history, traditions,
the stadium we'll be playing in and their current
stars, the history. Athletic Club have a rich
history with the beautiful game having been founded
in 1898. The Lions are widely known for their
cantera policy and since 1911 they have only
signed players native to or trained in the greater
Basque country. A founding member of La Liga
in 1928, they had enjoyed plenty of success in
the Copa del Rey beforehand, triumphing on nine
occasions before that point. They would dominate
the early years of league football, winning four
of eight titles before the Spanish Civil War
under the management of Englishman Fred Pentland.
Further league and cup success came in the 1940s,
spearheaded by the goals of legendary striker
Telmo Zara, who netted 335 times for the club.
Only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have
scored more La Liga goals. The trophies dried
up after the 1950s, albeit except for a brief
golden period when Javier Clemente achieved successive
league titles with the 1983 -84 triumph their
last. They are one of three clubs to never have
been relegated from the top flight alongside
Barcelona and Real Madrid, although that was
put in jeopardy at times during the 21st century.
Marcelo Bielsa took them to the Europa League
final in 2012 when they were beaten by Atletico
Madrid, the closest they'd come to European success
after losing to Juventus in the 1976 -77 final.
The stadium. Athletic Club play at San Mame Stadium,
which has stood on the site of their old home
since 2013. That had just been used since. 1913
and was a venue in the 1982 World Cup where England
beat France, Czechoslovakia and Kuwait. With
a capacity of 53 ,331, the new venue is the seventh
largest stadium in Spain and the largest in the
Basque Country. Similar to Bayern Munich's Allianz
Arena, it has an illuminated exterior, has won
numerous architectural awards and overlooks the
Nervion River. which runs through Bilbao. The
stadium hosted the 2025 Europa League final when
Tottenham beat Manchester United as well as the
2024 Women's Champions League final. It was also
the venue for the 2018 finals of the European
Rugby Champions Cup when the match between Leinster
and Racing 92 set the stadium's single game attendance
record at 52 ,282. The 2026 final will also be
held at the San Mame. The manager, head coach
Ernesto Valverde is an athletic club legend.
The 61 -year -old played for the club for six
years having spent time at Alaves, Espanyol and
Barcelona. Following retirement in 1997, he returned
to the club as an assistant coach before taking
charge of the reserve team in 2002. After one
season, he was promoted. for his first spell
as Athletic Club's head coach. He departed in
2005, but returned to manage the Lions in 2013.
During his four -year spell, he helped the club
qualify for the Champions League before winning
the side's first trophy in 31 years, the Supercopa
de España. He left in 2017 after becoming the
longest -serving manager in the club's history,
his first two spells. Valverde then spent three
years at Barcelona but returned for his third
spell at Athletic in 2022, where he had been
ever since. He lifted the club's last trophy
in 2023 -24 when Athletic won the Copa del Rey,
defeating Mallorca on penalties. This was the
club's 24th Copa del Rey crown, the second most
of any side, behind Barcelona. After that cup
success, Athletic improved by ending in fourth
in La Liga, their best finish since 2013 -14,
clinching a return to the Champions League for
the first time since then. The Lions lost just
six league matches all season as Valverde's side
finished on 70 points, the foundation of which
was based on their home form where they lost
just once, a 2 -0 defeat to Real Madrid. In addition,
the Lions netted 42 goals at San Mame, one of
the best across the entire league. Their Copa
del Rey success in 2024 secured a spot in the
Europa League, giving them extra motivation with
the final being held at San Mame. Athletic finished
the league phase in second place, losing just
one game and then knocked out Roma and Rangers
before being crushed by Manchester United in
the semi -finals. by a 7 -1 aggregate scoreline
to deny them a home matchup against tottenham
hotspur the squad as explained the athletic club
squad is made up entirely of players born in
a bass country and their star man is nico williams
who scored in a euro 2024 final against england
last year one of six goals in 30 caps for spain
in yakis older brother nico captains the club
You mean the other way around. Nico's older brother
Enyaki captains the club and finished with 18
goals and assists across all competitions in
2024 -25. Goalkeeper Unai Simon won Euro 2024
with Spain and was named La Liga's best shortstopper
last term, while his international teammate...
Aymeric Laporte recently returned to the club
where he started his career before moving to
Manchester City and then Al Nasser. There's plenty
more experience in the backline in the form of
vice -captains Yuri Bershise and Inigo Lekue.
Attacking midfielder Oihan Sansei finished as
the club's top scorer last season with 17 goals
across all competitions, the highest of his career
to date. Their summer transfer dealings were
fairly quiet with right -back Jesus Arezzo arriving
from Osasuna for £10m while right -winger Robert
Navarro signed on a free following his departure
from Mallorca. Season so far. After four games,
Athletic Club sit third in La Liga with their
promising start to the campaign ended on Saturday
when they lost 1 -0 to Alaves at home when they
were without the services of Nico Williams who
missed out with a hip injury. They started the
campaign with a 3 -2 victory against Sevilla
where Nico Williams scored one and assisted two
others including a late winner for Navarro on
his debut. Sanse then netted a penalty to beat
Rayo Vallecano 1 -0 before their only away game
this term came at Real Betis who were beaten
2 -1. The Champions League draw handed them home
games against ourselves carabao holders paris
saint -germain and sport in lisbon while they'll
also travel to borussia dortmund newcastle united
slavia prague and atalanta the previous meetings
arsenal free athletic club nil this game will
make history as we face athletic club competitively
for the first time ever however it was only last
month that we took on each other in friendly
action as we competed for the Emirates Cup in
North London. The afternoon will be remembered
for Victor Yocarez heading in his first Gunners
goal from a Martin Zubimendi cross, before Bukayo
Saka doubled our lead just two minutes later
to hand us a healthy advantage at the break.
Nine minutes from time, Kai Havertz burst through
on goal and Cooley took his chance to wrap up
a convincing 3 -0 win as both teams continued
their preparations for the new campaign.