Porto v Athletic background

FC Porto and Athletic Club met 58 years ago in what was a first taste of European competition for both sides. They renew acquaintance again with the Portuguese side eager to build on their good start in Group H.

Previous meetings
• Athletic had the better of things in the 1956/57 European Champion Clubs' Cup preliminary round, first winning 2-1 at Estádio das Antas. Captain Agustín Gainza put the visitors ahead early on and Canito fired the winner after José Maria Matos had equalised.

• The lineups on 20 September 1956 were:
Porto: Carrelo, Mendes, Barbosa, Arcanjo, Pedroto, Da Costa, Hernâni, Gonçalves, Jaburú, Perdigão, Matos.
Athletic: Cedrun, Orue, Garay, Canito, Lauzirica, Maguregui, Azcarate, Marcaida, Merodio, Uribe, Gainza.

• In the return a hat-trick by José Luis Artetxe edged Athletic to another narrow victory, with Hernâni and Jorge Jaburú on target for Porto in the first half. The visitors had Jaburú and Virgílio Mendes sent off.

Match background

Porto
• Porto have been eliminated from three European competitions in the past two seasons by Spanish clubs, losing 4-2 on aggregate to Sevilla FC in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League quarter-final after a 1-0 win at home.

• Earlier last season they also came off worse in the UEFA Champions League group stage against Club Atlético de Madrid, going down 2-1 at home and 2-0 away. That latter defeat, on matchday six, ended their hopes of progressing.

• In 2012/13 Porto's UEFA Champions League hopes were ended in the round of 16 by Málaga CF, who won 2-0 in Spain after Porto's 1-0 home win.

• Porto fared better against Villarreal CF in their triumphant 2010/11 UEFA Europa League campaign, winning 5-1 at home in the semi-finals en route to a 7-4 aggregate triumph.

• Porto's home record against Spanish visitors is W9 D3 L8. Overall it is W14 D5 L24.

• Porto have faced two Spanish sides in the UEFA Super Cup, losing 2-1 against Valencia CF in 2004 and 2-0 against FC Barcelona in 2011.

• On matchday two substitute Jackson Martínez struck twice in the closing stages to earn Porto a 2-2 draw at FC Shakhtar Donetsk. It followed their 6-0 dismantling of FC BATE Borisov.

Athletic
• Athletic's eight contests against Portuguese sides have ended W5 D1 L2 (W1 D1 L2 in Portugal). Both defeats came against Sporting Clube de Portugal, the most recent a 2-1 loss in the first leg of the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League semi-final.

• Revenge came in the shape of a 3-1 home win to take Athletic into the final where they lost 3-0 to compatriots Atlético in Bucharest.

• The Bilbao side have yet to keep a clean sheet against a Portuguese club.

• Athletic began Group H with a 0-0 draw at home to Shakhtar and then lost 2-1 at BATE.

Coach and player links
• Julen Lopetegui worked with Iker Muniain when in charge of Spain Under-21s between 2012 and 2014, winning the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Israel. Cristian Tello was also part of that squad.

• Lopetegui led Spain to the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in 2012 in Estonia, with Athletic's Kepa Arrizabalaga and Porto's Óliver Torres both featuring in the final against Greece.

• Adrián López, Mikel San José and Muniain won the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship with Spain in Denmark.

• Adrián, Muniain and Tello represented Spain at the 2012 Olympic Games.

• Adrián faced Athletic nine times while with Atlético (2011 to 2014). He started the 2012 UEFA Europa League final against the Basque club, which Diego Simeone's side won 3-0.

Match facts

Porto
• Porto's 11-game unbeaten run this season ended on Saturday when they succumbed 3-1 at home to Sporting in the Portuguese Cup third round.

• Jackson equalised after 35 minutes – taking his tally for the campaign in all competitions into double figures – and then had a penalty saved in the second half with the score 2-1.

• The Dragons had conceded just one goal in six home matches this term prior to Saturday.

• Lopetegui is yet to name an unchanged starting XI this term.

• Porto ended a run of three successive Liga draws by beating SC Braga 2-1 at home on 5 October, Bruno Martins Indi scoring his first goal for the club.

• Porto announced on Friday that Fabiano (until June 2017) and Rúben Neves (June 2019) have agreed new contracts.

• Neves (one goal) and Ricardo (two) helped Portugal qualify for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship for the first time since 2007, starting both legs of their play-off 7-4 aggregate victory against the Netherlands.

• Earning his first cap since June 2012, Ricardo Quaresma converted a penalty as Portugal lost 2-1 to France in a friendly on 11 October. Three days later the winger, having come on as a late substitute in the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifier, crossed for Cristiano Ronaldo to head an added-time winner versus Denmark.

• Yacine Brahimi set Algeria en route to a 3-0 defeat of Malawi on 15 October, a result that confirmed the Desert Foxes' qualification for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

Athletic
• Athletic have endured their worst ever start to a Liga season, with just five points from eight games.

• The Bilbao outfit are eight without a win and have failed to score in six of their 12 matches in all competitions this season.

• Athletic lost 5-0 at Real Madrid CF on 5 October, their heaviest defeat since going down 6-1 at home to RC Celta de Vigo in March 2002.

• Muniain started Spain's 2-1 defeat by Serbia in the second leg of their UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off, but was forced off in the 55th minute with a shoulder injury. He recovered to face Celta on Saturday, a fixture that ended 1-1.

• Aymeric Laporte completed 90 minutes in both legs of France's UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off, when Sweden overturned a 2-0 defeat with a remarkable 4-1 victory.

• Óscar de Marcos has renewed his contract with Athletic, tying him to the club until 2019.

• Ager Aketxe (fractured foot) is Athletic's only long-term absentee.