Champions League Matchday 8: Athletic Club vs Sporting CP facts

Athletic Club will look to join Matchday 8 opponents Sporting CP in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds as the league phase concludes in Bilbao.

While the Portuguese side are tenth in the standings on 13 points and already assured of at least a place in the knockout phase play-offs, Athletic are on eight points and in 23rd position – the penultimate qualifying spot – ahead of the final round of fixtures.

Last match

Both sides have two wins from the teams' previous four matches, the home side prevailing in all four contests.

Athletic were 2-1 winners against Sporting in the 1985/86 UEFA Cup third round first leg but bowed out after a 0-3 second-leg loss in Lisbon. It was the Spanish side's turn to mount a comeback when the clubs met again in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League semi-finals, a 3-1 success in Bilbao overturning Sporting's 2-1 first-leg win in Portugal.

Athletic have won four of their five previous home matches against Portuguese opposition (L1) although the sole defeat came in the most recent, 0-2 against Porto in the 2014/15 Champions League group stage. That made it three defeats in Athletic's last four games against teams from Portugal, home and away (W1).

Sporting have never won in Spain, where their record is D4 L10, a 1-1 draw at Villarreal on their last visit, in the 2018/19 Europa League round of 32 second leg (1-2 aggregate) ending a run of four successive defeats.

Sporting have won only two of their last 16 matches against Spanish teams (D4 L10) and have lost seven of the last nine (W1 D1).

Athletic Club

Athletic are in the Champions League proper for the first time since 2014/15; their only other appearance came in 1998/99.

European Cup quarter-finalists on debut in 1956/57, the Basque side have won only five of their 19 matches in the Champions League proper (D6 L8).

Sporting CP

The Lions are making their 12th appearance in the Champions League proper, and a fourth in five seasons.

Sporting were 23rd in last season's league phase (W3 D2 L3), bowing out against Borussia Dortmund in the knockout phase play-offs (0-3 h, 0-0 a).

Key stats

Athletic ended a three-game winless run in the league phase with a 3-2 comeback victory at Atalanta on Matchday 7.

The Basque club have lost only one of their last five Champions League matches (W2 D2).

Athletic have lost only two of their last ten home European games (W7 D1).

Athletic's Gorka Guruzeta has four goals in his last five league phase appearances.

Sporting were 2-1 winners at home to holders Paris Saint-Germain on Matchday 7 and have lost only two of their last eight Champions League matches (W4 D2).

However, the Lions are without a win in six away Champions League games (D2 L4).

Luis Suárez, who got both goals against Paris, has four in Sporting's last six league phase matches.