undefined

Athletic Club to face Liverpool FC at Anfield in pre-season

Athletic Club to face Liverpool FC at Anfield in pre-season

The Lions will play against Liverpool in a friendly match at Anfield on August 8 at 17:00 CEST

Athletic Club will take on Liverpool FC in a pre-season friendly. The Lions will visit Anfield on Sunday, August 8 at 17:00 CEST.

Liverpool have won the English top-flight 19 times, including as recently as 2019-20. In addition to that, the Reds are also one of the most successful clubs ever on the European front, having won the European Cup/Champions League on six occasions, and the UEFA Cup three times.

The Reds finished third in the Premier League last season, thus securing qualification to the Champions League for the 2021-22 campaign. Their current manager is German Jurgen Klopp and their top goalscorer in 2020-21 was Mohamed Salah with 31 goals in all competitions.

Athletic have faced Liverpool FC a total of five times. The first clash took place at San Mamés in 1968-69 with the two sides meeting in the first round of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (predecessor of the UEFA CUP/Europa League). Athletic won the fixture 2-1 at The Cathedral thanks to goals by Estéfano and Ormaza. In the return leg, the Reds won by the same scoreline. Curiously, Athletic went through after winning a coin-toss.

The third and fourth match between the two were played in 1983-84 in the Last 16 of the European Cup. The first leg ended goalless in England, but the Liverpudlians won the second leg in Bilbao thanks to Rush’s goal.

The most recent clash took place in 2017-18, in a friendly match held at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The English side won 3-1, and Athletic’s goal was scored by Iñaki Williams.