Athletic dancing to Bartman's rhythm

Nicknamed Bart Simpson by his Athletic Club Bilbao team-mates, 16-year-old Iker Muniain will be hoping to torment Werder Bremen's rearguard when the teams meet in Group L on Thursday.

Emotional opening
Los Leones opened their UEFA Europa League group-stage account with an impressive 3-0 win against FK Austria Wien at San Mamés a fortnight ago, Muniain hitting his side's final goal of the night. Yet it was back in the third qualifying round when the Navarra-born forward exploded on to the scene, as he helped Athletic earn a gritty victory over BSC Young Boys in Berne on 6 August. Introduced with 20 minutes of the second leg remaining, Muniain scored what proved the deciding goal almost immediately to take Joaquín Caparrós's team into a play-off against Tromsø IL. "So many things went through my head when I knocked in that goal but I particularly remember thinking of my family who have always supported me," he explained. "The truth is it brought tears to my eyes."

Record-breaker
That 72nd-minute strike earned Muniain an entry into Los Rojiblancos' record books as their youngest ever scorer and by the end of August – at 16 years and 254 days – he became their youngest Liga player. RCD Espanyol were the visitors to Bilbao on the opening day of the Spanish season and after watching his side lose 1-0 to the hosts, visiting coach Mauricio Pochettino had high praise for Athletic's latest prospect. "He's a very different type of player; one that can bring a stadium to its feet," the Argentinian noted. "Although he's still young, he plays with a lot of confidence." Muniain's team-mate Fernando Llorente also gave approval of the Liga's newest star. "He's a spectacular kid in every sense of the word and he's also a very funny guy off the field."

Bright future
Just 1.65m tall, the pacy Muniain does not turn 17 until December but he is well taken care of in the Athletic dressing room. "Those who have been here for a long time have already taken to protecting him," said Caparrós. "He's young but he's a real extrovert and that has helped him integrate so quickly." For now, though, the Spanish Under-17 international is keen to stress that despite such a rapid rise through the ranks at the Basque outfit there is much to learn. "That goal against Young Boys helped me to grow a lot but I'm still very young and am just happy to be able to help out my team-mates."