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Athletic look for Lokomotiv redemption

Athletic Club welcome FC Lokomotiv Moskva to Bilbao looking to set up a date with AFC Ajax or Manchester United FC in the UEFA Europa League round of 16.

Ander Herrera (left) and Lokomotiv's Alberto Zapater during the first leg
Ander Herrera (left) and Lokomotiv's Alberto Zapater during the first leg ©Getty Images

Athletic Club welcome FC Lokomotiv Moskva to Bilbao looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit and set up a date with AFC Ajax or Manchester United FC in the UEFA Europa League round of 16.

• Iker Muniain (36) gave the visitors a deserved lead in Moscow, but the Railwaymen hit back strongly in the second half. Denis Glushakov equalised from the penalty spot (61) after a foul on Felipe Caicedo, who then grabbed the winner with a well-taken finish (71).

Previous meetings
• The sides have been paired for the first time in UEFA competition.

• Athletic's only experience of Russian opposition prior to this season came in the 1973/74 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round, when they drew 0-0 at FC Torpedo Moskva before winning the home leg 2-0.

• Lokomotiv's record in 13 games against Spanish teams reads W2 D3 L8 (W0 D1 L4 in Spain).

Match background
• A 4-2 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain FC in their final group stage fixture ended Athletic's six-game unbeaten run in this season's UEFA Europa League.

• Athletic are unbeaten in five European home fixtures − two wins and three draws − since a 3-0 loss to SV Werder Bremen in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage.

• The Bilbao side have reached the round of 32 for the third time since the advent of the UEFA Cup group stage; they lost to FK Austria Wien in 2004/05 and RSC Anderlecht in 2009/10.

• Lokomotiv have scored three times in each of their most recent away games − a 3-1 win at AEK Athens FC and a 5-3 defeat by Anderlecht, the highest-scoring game in the group stage.

• The Railwaymen have not survived the winter break in a UEFA competition since 2005/06, when Sevilla FC knocked them out of the UEFA Cup round of 32.

Team facts
• Lokomotiv are at their most dangerous after the break; 13 of their 16 goals since the start of the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stage have come after the interval, seven of them between the 61st and 75th minutes.

• Anderlecht's Matías Suárez remains the top scorer in the UEFA Europa League with seven goals, with Lokomotiv Moskva's Dmitri Sychev one strike behind him on six.

• Lokomotiv's Taras Burlak celebrates his 22nd birthday on the eve of the game.

• Athletic goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz faced Lokomotiv in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage; his RCD Espanyol side won 1-0 in Moscow.

• Lokomotiv boast Spanish talent in the form of midfielder Alberto Zapater, who played in eight league games against Athletic for his home-town club Real Zaragoza, with the record W3 D2 L3.

• Loko striker Felipe Caicedo has played in Spain with Málaga CF, drawing 1-1 in his only game against Athletic, and Levante UD last season, while on loan from Manchester City FC; he scored in a 2-1 home defeat by Athletic, and featured as his side lost the return fixture 3-2 at San Mamés.

• Victor Obinna also played in Spain, on loan at Málaga, before moving to Moscow; his only game against Athletic ended in a 1-1 draw in Bilbao.

• Lokomotiv's Slovenian left-back Branko Ilič played for Real Betis Balompié from 2007 to 2009; his only game against Athletic ended in a 2-1 win for his side at San Mamés in 2007.

• Lokomotiv coach José Couceiro was in caretaker charge at Sporting Clube de Portugal for the latter part of 2010/11 before replacing Yuri Krasnozhan as Lokomotiv boss in July. Since coaching Portugal's Under-21s from 2006 to 2007, he has been in charge of FBK Kaunas, Lithuania and Gaziantepspor.

• Athletic's coach is former Argentina defender Marcelo Bielsa, who briefly led Espanyol in Spain in 1998 before taking charge of Argentina (1998–2004) and Chile (2007–11). This is his first season as a player or coach in UEFA club competition.

Round of 16
• The winners of this tie will take on Ajax or United in the round of 16 on 8 and 15 March, playing the second leg at home.

• Lokomotiv have met neither of their potential opponents in UEFA competition.

• Athletic have lost their only UEFA ties against both Ajax and United; they beat Ajax 2-0 at home in the 1978/79 UEFA Cup first round, but lost the away leg 3-0, and overcame United 5-3 at San Mamés in the 1956/57 European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-finals but went down 3-0 in Manchester.

Competition statistics
• An updated version of the UEFA Europa League Statistics Handbook is available here:
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=1750416.html