Athletic v Porto background

Successive defeats have left Athletic Club with much to do while FC Porto are on a high, their 2-1 victory against the Spanish side in Portugal providing a two-point cushion at the Group H summit.

• Héctor Herrera put Porto ahead in the matchday three fixture before Guillermo Fernández equalised. Ricardo Quaresma scored Porto's winner four minutes after coming on.

Previous meetings
• Before their Estádio do Dragão meeting on 21 October it was 58 years since the teams had locked horns. In a first taste of European competition for both sides, Athletic had the better of things in the 1956/57 European Champion Clubs' Cup preliminary round, winning the home leg 3-2 for a 5-3 aggregate success.

• A hat-trick by José Luis Arteche made the difference with Hernâni and Jorge Jaburu twice putting Porto ahead on the night. The visitors had Jaburu and Virgílio Mendes sent off.

• The lineups at Estadio de San Mamés on 26 September 1956 were: 
Athletic: Cedrun, Orue, Garay, Trapero, Lauzirica, Maguregui, Arteche, Marcaida, Merodio, Uribe, Gainza.
Porto: Carrelo, Mendes, Cambalacho, Arcanjo, Pedroto, Da Costa, Hernâni, Duarte, De Matos, Perdigão, Matos.

• The Bilbao club had won 2-1 at the Estádio das Antas. Captain Agustin Gainza put the visitors ahead early on and Canito fired the winner after José Maria Matos had equalised.

Match background

Athletic
• Athletic's nine contests against Portuguese sides have ended W5 D1 L3 (W4 D0 L0 at home). Both previous 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 Club Atlético de Madrid in Bucharest.

• The Bilbao side have yet to keep a clean sheet against a Portuguese club; in nine previous fixtures they have conceded 14 goals.

• Athletic began Group H with a 0-0 draw at home to FC Shakhtar Donetsk and then lost 2-1 at FC BATE Borisov. Their single point leaves them bottom of the section.

Porto
• Porto's last two European campaigns ended at the hands of Spanish sides, losing 4-2 on aggregate to Sevilla FC in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals after a 1-0 win at home. They went out to Málaga CF in the UEFA Champions League 12 months earlier.

• Porto also came off worse in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League group stage against Atlético, going down 2-1 at home and 2-0 away. The second of those defeats, on matchday six, ended their hopes of progressing.

• Porto's record away to Spanish sides is W5 D2 L14. Their most recent victory came during their triumphant 2010/11 UEFA Europa League campaign when Rolando and Fredy Guarín scored in a 2-1 victory at Sevilla in the round of 32 – a result that eventually secured their passage on away goals after they lost the second leg 1-0 at home.

• Porto have faced two Spanish sides in the UEFA Super Cup, losing 2-1 to 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 Shakhtar. It followed their 6-0 dismantling of 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 U21 Championship in Israel. Cristian Tello was also part of the squad.

• Lopetegui led Spain to victory in the UEFA European U19 Championship in 2012 in Estonia with Kepa Arrizabalaga and Óliver Torres both featuring in the final against Greece.

• Spain's Adrián López, Mikel San José and Muniain won the 2011 European U21 Championship in Denmark.

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

• Adrián faced Athletic nine times while with Atlético (2011–14). He started the 2012 UEFA Europa League final against the Basque club, which Diego Simeone's side won 3-0.

Match facts

Athletic
• Markel Susaeta is a yellow card away from a suspension. 

• Xabier Etxeita's first goal for the club earned Athletic a 1-0 victory at UD Almería on 25 October – their first win in ten games in all competitions. They made it two in succession with another 1-0 triumph on Sunday, at home to Sevilla FC.

• The Lions have accrued only 11 points from ten Liga matches this season; at the same stage last term they had 19.

• Aritz Aduriz has scored four of Athletic's seven league goals in 2014/15.

• Carlos Gurpegi sat out the Almería match with a knee injury but returned as a late substitute against Sevilla.

• Academy product Unai Bustinza, 22, made his Athletic debut off the bench against Almería.

Porto
• Danilo's first goal of the campaign helped Porto to a 2-0 victory against CD Nacional on Saturday.

• Lopetegui's charges have won four of their last five games in all competitions.

• Porto's 5-0 triumph at FC Arouca on 25 October was their biggest in the league since 28 January 2013.

• Martínez, on target twice in that game, has scored 12 goals in 15 appearances for Porto this term.

• Vincent Aboubakar rounded off the win against Arouca with his first league goal for the Dragons.