BATE v Athletic background

FC BATE Borisov will be striving for a first win against Spanish opponents as Athletic Club become the first group stage visitors to the new Borisov Arena.

Match background

BATE
• Beaten 6-0 at FC Porto on matchday one, BATE have had four home-and-away contests with Spanish sides, losing all eight matches and scoring three goals while conceding 25.

• In the 2012/13 group stage they went down 3-0 at home to Valencia CF and 4-2 away. The goals in the latter fixture were the first they had scored against Spanish opposition since a 2007/08 UEFA Cup first round tie against Villarreal CF when they lost 4-1 away.

• Belarus champions for an eighth successive season in 2013, BATE are in the group stage for the fourth time overall and the third time in four seasons. For the first time they will hold matches in their own city; previously they have played their home games 70km away in Minsk.

• In Aleksandr Yermakovich's European bow as coach, they beat KS Skënderbeu in this season's second qualifying round thanks to Anri Khagush's goal in a 1-1 away draw after a goalless home leg.

• BATE lost 1-0 away, and went behind at home, before winning 3-1 against Debreceni VSC for a 3-2 aggregate victory in the third qualifying round.

• Another 1-1 away draw paved the way for a 3-0 home win against ŠK Slovan Bratislava in the play-offs.

• BATE's three previous group stage campaigns, in 2008/09, 2011/12 and 2012/13, all came under former coach Viktor Goncharenko, who left for FC Kuban Krasnodar in October 2013.

• Besides the Valencia defeat two seasons ago, BATE also lost at home to LOSC Lille but beat FC Bayern München, who would go on to lift the trophy at the end of the season, 3-1.

• BATE finished third in the group in 2012/13. In the UEFA Europa League they fell in the round of 32, losing to Fenerbahçe SK 1-0 away and by the same aggregate score.

Athletic
• The Spanish club, who drew 0-0 with Ukrainian champions FC Shakhtar Donetsk in their first Group H game, have never played a team from Belarus.

• In their sole previous group stage appearance, 1998/99, they finished fourth in their section on six points. On their travels they lost 2-1 at both Rosenborg BK and Galatasaray AŞ, drawing 1-1 at Juventus.

• Athletic have lost three of their last six European away games, winning one and drawing two.

• A 3-1 home win over SSC Napoli in the play-offs completed a 4-2 aggregate success for the Basque club, UEFA Europa League finalists in 2012/13.

Coach and player links
• Egor Filipenko, Vitali Rodionov and Aleksandr Volodko all appeared as Belarus lost 4-0 to Spain in a FIFA World Cup qualifier at the Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, on 12 October 2012. Aleksandr Pavlovets was an unused substitute.

• Filipenko and Rodionov started in the 2-1 defeat to Vicente del Bosque's side a year later at the Iberostar Estadi in Mallorca; Volodko was an unused substitute. 

• Iker Muniain played in Spain's 3-1 win against Belarus, who included Denis Polyakov, Filipenko and Dmitri Baga, in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship semi-final.

Match facts

BATE

• Nikolai Signevich struck an 87th-minute equaliser as BATE drew 2-2 at third-placed FC Naftan Novopolotsk on Friday, their third successive league draw.

• Aleksandr Karnitski broke the deadlock at Naftan with his first goal for the club.

• BATE are 23 domestic league matches unbeaten (15 wins, nine draws) since a 2-0 defeat at FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk on 29 March.

• The Yellow-Blues followed up their 6-0 loss to Porto − BATE's heaviest away defeat in European competition − with a clean sheet, drawing 0-0 at home against UEFA Europa League group stage participants FC Dinamo Minsk on 22 September.

• BATE have not lost at home in any competition since a 1-0 reverse against FC Torpedo Zhodino on 29 September 2013.

Athletic

• Athletic have gone five games without a win in all competitions, their worst run since April/May 2013.

• The Bilbao outfit have failed to score in four of their last five games.

• Athletic opened the scoring through Aritz Aduriz, their first goal in 304 minutes, but still lost 2-1 at Rayo Vallecano de Madrid on 24 September – their fourth defeat in five Liga games this season.

• Ager Aketxe broke a toe, ruling him out until November, after coming off the bench for his Athletic debut on matchday one.

• Aduriz is responsible for half of the Basque side's eight goals in all competitions this term.