Athletic Club’s Champions League adventures

Athletic Club last qualified for the Champions League six years ago today. The lions reached the group stages of the competition after defeating Napoli 3-1 in San Mamés. We take a look at the last five times Athletic Club competed in Europe’s premier tournament.

In the 1956/57 European Cup, as it was known back then, Athletic Club beat Porto in both legs of their round of 32 tie. It was 1-2 in Porto with goals by Piru Gainza and Nicanor Sagarduy ‘Canito’ and 3-2 in San Mamés with a hat-trick by José Luis Artetxe.

The lions then dispatched Budapest Honved FC in the last-16, picking a 3-2 win the home leg -goals by Artetxe, Felix Markaida and Eneko Arieta-Aranduñabeitia- the away leg took place in Heysel Stadium and finished 3-3, there was a brace by Meriodo and a goal for Arieta.

In the quarter-finals, Athletic faced Manchester United and Matt Busby’s ‘babes’. In the home leg, the lions won 5-3 in a game that also became famous for the heavy snowfall, but the English side turned the tie around in the second leg, defeating Athletic 3-0 at Maine Road.

In 1983/84, LaLiga champions Athletic Club, led by Javier Clemente, pulled off a comeback to defeat Lech Poznan in the round of 32. The Polish outfit beat the lions 2-0 in the Bulgarska Stadium, but Athletic put the game to bed in the return fixture with a 4-0 victory in San Mamés, there were goals from Andoni Goikoetxea, Miguel Sola, José María Noriega and Santiago Urkiaga.

In the last-16, Athletic faced an English side again, this time Liverpool, who knocked us out of the tournament after a 0-0 draw at Anfield and 0-1 victory in San Mamés.

The following season in 1984/85, once again turning up as LaLiga champions, Athletic were beaten in the first round by Girondins de Bordeaux. The French side followed up a 3-2 victory in Parc Lescure with a 0-0 draw in San Mamés.

It’s 1998/99 and the European Cup is now called the Champions League, Athletic Club qualified after coming second in LaLiga in the previous season. In the play-off match, Athletic beat Dinamo Tbilisi on away goals. The lions went down 2-1 in Georgia with the goal coming courtesy of Andoni Imaz, and in San Mamés it took a Joseba Etxeberria goal in the 51st minute to ensure Athletic went through to the groups.

In the group stages, Athletic came up against Juventus, Galatasaray and Rosenburg, but only managed to pick up six points, leaving them out of the tournament.

The last time we took part in the tournament was in 2014/15. And six years ago today, it took a magical night in San Mamés to see Athletic make the group stages. In Napoli’s Stadio San Paolo, Athletic got a respectable 1-1 draw thanks to a goal by playmaker Iker Muniain… but the main dish was yet to come.

In Bilbao, Hamšík scored first for the Italians before the break, but a brace by striker Aritz Aduriz and a goal by winger Ibai Gómez sent Athletic through to the groups with a 3-1 win. In the group stages, Ernesto Valverde’s lions racked up seven points against Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Bate Borisov, which saw them finish third and head into the Europa League.

Pictures AC Museoa