Match Pack: Athletic Club vs PSG (Champions League MD6)

San Mames is ready to host one of its biggest fixtures in recent years as Athletic Club take on reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the UCL League Phase.

With three League Phase games left, Ernesto Valverde's Lions are 27th in the standings, three places and two points away from the qualification cut-off point.

Opponents don't come much tougher than PSG. Balon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé and his teammates won the competition for the first time in the French club's history last season and they're currently second in the table with four wins and a loss from their first five matches.

Despite the obvious difficulty entailed, spirits in Bilbao are high after Saturday's 1-0 win over Atlético de Madrid and the Lions will be hoping to give the San Mames faithful another night to remember.

 

Match Info

San Mames Stadium, Bilbao

UEFA Champions League, League Phase MD6

Wednesday December 10, 21:00 CET

Remaining tickets for the match can be found via this link. 
 

 

Team news

Ernesto Valverde has named a 23-man squad for Wedneday night's clash.

Maroan, Beñat Prados and Aymeric Laporte are out injured, whilst Aitor Paredes is serving a suspension for yellow cards.

Iñaki Williams is back in the squad after recovering from injury.

 

Valverde's and Yuri's pre-match comments

Catch up with everything the gaffer and Yuri had to say.

 

The Opponents

Paris Saint-Germain were founded via a merger between Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain in 1970. The club found immediate success, gaining promotion to Ligue 1 after winning the second division in 1970/71.

Paris FC split away in 1972, staying in the top flight whilst PSG were sent to the third division. Nonetheless, PSG soon found their feet again, and were back in the first division by 1974, the same year they moved into the 48,000 capacity Parc des Princes.

This rise heralded a two-decade-long golden period. The Red and Blues lifted back-to-back Coupes de France in 1981/82 and 1982/83 before winning their first ever Ligue 1 title in 1985/86. A small decline at the end of the 80s was followed by more glory in the 90s as PSG fully established themselves as one of the dominant forces in French football.

From 1992 until 1998, some of it under the guidance of former Athletic Club coach Luis Fernandez, who led the team in 1994/95 and 1995/96, Les Parisiens won three Coupes de France (1992/93, 1994/95,1997/98), two Coupes de Ligue (1994/95, 1997/98), one Ligue 1 (1993–94) and a European Cup Winners' Cup (1995/96).

Despite often fielding talented players like Ronaldinho, Nicolas Anelka, Laurent Robert, Mikel Arteta, Pauleta, Ludovic Giuly and Mauricio Pochettino, among many others, the 2000s were a period of inconsistency on and off the pitch. Nevertheless, the Paris side still managed to take home three Coupes de France (2003/04, 2005/06, 2009/10).

After years of false dawns and underachievement, PSG were acquired by Qatari investment group Qatar Sports Investment in June 2011. The change of owners saw Les Parisiens become one of the riches teamst in the world and the impact was immediate.

Now able to lure head coaches of the calibre of Carlo Ancelotti, Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and Luis Enrique, along with world-class players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar Jr, Angel Di Maria, Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Lionel Messi, PSG have since experienced an almost unprecedented era of domestic and European success.

Since the takeover, Les Parisiens have won 11 Ligue 1 titles, eight Coupes de France, six Coupes de Ligue and last season's UEFA Champions League, a 5-0 dismantling of Inter Milan and the first UCL trophy in their history. Added to that, they beat Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the 2025 UEFA Super Cup and were runners-up in the 2019/20 UCL final, which they lost 1-0 against Bayern Munich.
 

Head coach: Luis Enrique

A familiar name in LaLiga football, the Gijón native took over as PSG head coach from Christophe Galtier in July 2023.

One of the most decorated coaches of his generation, Luis Enrique started his managerial career at Barcelona B in 2008. After three years in Catalunya, he moved to AS Roma but only lasted one season in the Italian capital.

He then spent the 2013/14 campaign with RC Celta before becoming the Barça. During a highly successful three-year period, the Blaugrana won the treble in 2014/15 (LaLiga, Copa del Rey and Champions League), a double in 2015/16 (LaLiga and Copa del Rey) and the Copa del Rey in 2016/17.

In 2018, Luis Enrique became the Spanish national team coach, leading the side to the Euro 2020 semi-finals and the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup.

The Asturian is now in his third year at PSG. He won the domestic treble in his first season and a continental treble in his second, becoming only the second ever managing to achieve the feat twice and the first to do so at a French club.

Luis Enrique also had a very successful playing career, a versatile footballer capable of covering many positions, he came up through the academy at Sporting Gijón and then went on to play for Real Madrid and FC Barcelona before retiring in 2004. His medal cabinet includes three LaLigas (1994/95, 1997/98, 1998/99), three Copas del Rey (1992/93, 1996/97,1997/98), a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1996/97) and a UEFA Super Cup (1997).
 

Standout players:

Although the early days of QSI's ownership focused on big-money signings, Luis Enrique's time in charge has seen the club pivot to combining global talents with homegrown products.

The squad's overseas contigent includes: goalkeeper Matvey Safonov and Renato Marin (Italy); defenders Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Lucas Beraldo and Marquinhos (Brazil), Illia Zabarnyi (Ukraine), and Nuno Mendes (Portugal); midfielders Fabián Ruiz (Spain), Lee Kang-in (South Korea), Joao Neves and Vitinha (Portugal); forwards Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Gonçalo Ramos (Portugal), and Ibrahim Mbaye (born in France but a Senegal international).

An emphasis on fielding local stars has seen many French players take centre stage in recent years, for example: Lucas Chevalier (goalkeeper), Lucas Hernández (defender), Senny Mayulu and Warren Zaïre-Emery (midfielders), and Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé (forwards).

Balon d'Or winner Dembélé was PSG's top goalscorer last season, netting 35 times in 53 appearances, which included eight strikes in the Champions League. Vitinha is the most prolific scorer in the compeition so far this year, with four goals in five appearances.
 

Recent form:

Although not quite as dominant domestically yet as in other campaigns, Les Parisiens seem set for another productive season. They're second in Ligue 1, one point behind leaders RC Lens, with 33 points after 10 wins, three draws and two defeats. Their most recent league outing was a 5-0 home victory against Rennes.

They've had a relatively comfortable start to their Champions League defence. Luis Enrique's side have registered victories against Atalanta (4-0), FC Barcelona (1-2), Bayer Leverkusen (2-7) and Spurs (5-3). The only setback so far was a 1-2 loss to 10-man Bayern Munich in November.
 

Interesting facts:

• The 'Saint-Germain' part of the club's name comes from the nearby town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where Stade Saint-Germain were formed in 1904.
• The town is the birthplace of King Louis XIV , which is why their club's crest features a white 'fleur-de-lis' and previously included the 'cradle of Louis XIV'.
• PSG have never been relegated from Ligue 1 since their promotion to the competition in 1974/75.
• They have a long history of collaboration with the Parisian fashion scene. Famous designer Daniel Hechter was club president from 1974 until 1978 and his red, blue and whirt shirt has remained part of the club's identity ever since.
• In addition to men's and women's football sides, PSG also have handball, judo and e-sports teams. They previously had boxing and rugby league sections as well.
• Their main rivals are Olympique Marseille and this derby match is called Le Classique.
   

Athletic-PSG connections

This will be the fifth match between the two clubs. It's the third encounter in official competition and the second times PSG have played at San Mames. We've met twice for friendlies: a 1-1 draw in the 1998/99 pre-season and 0-2 loss in Bayonne in March 2003. 

We were then group-stage opponents during the 2011/12 Europa League. The Zurigorri beat the Parisians 2-0 in Bilbao thanks to goals from Igor Gabilondo and Markel Susaeta, but the French side beat us 4-2 at Parc de Princes in the return fixture.

Current Athletic left-back Yuri Berchiche spent the 2017/18 season at PSG, helping the club win a domestic treble under Basque manager Unai Emery before joining Athletic the following season.

Former Athletic midfielder Ander Herrera spent three seasons in the French capital from 2019/20 until 2021/22 prior to returning to Bilbao in August 2022.

The other major connection between Athletic is Luis Fernandez. The Tarifa-born French national had enjoyable spells in charge of both clubs. A PSG player in the 80s, a time in which he picked up a winners' medals in Ligue 1 and two in the Coupe de France, he also won the Coupe de France, Coupe de Ligue and Cup Winners' Cup in his first stint as manager, in addition to the 2001 Intertoto Cup when he was back in charge from 2000 to 2003.

He was Athletic's head coach from 1996 until 200 and is most well remembered at Athletic for leading the club to a historic second-placed finish in LaLiga during the 1997/98 season, a feat which saw us qualify for the Champions League for only the fourth time in our history at that point.

 

How to Watch

Check out our global TV guide to make sure you don't miss the match. 

You can also follow the fixture, and keep up to date with everything Athletic related, through the official Athletic Club app, as well as on our website and social media accounts:

Twitter

Basque: @Athletic_eus

English: @Athletic_en

Spanish: @AthleticClub

Facebook

www.facebook.com/ATHLETICCLUB/ (Spanish + Basque)

Instagram

@athleticclub (Spanish + Basque)

Website

Basque: www.athletic-club.eus/eu/

English: www.athletic-club.eus/en/

Spanish: www.athletic-club.eus/