Athletic look for three in a row against Salzburg

FC Salzburg will look to bring an end to a recent barren spell on their European travels as they visit Athletic Club in UEFA Europa League Group F.

Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition.

• Athletic's record in four games against Austrian sides is W2 D1 L1 (W1 D0 L1 in Bilbao). They beat FK Austria Wien 3-0 twice in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage. Fernando Llorente struck four times in those games.

• Salzburg's record in eight games against Spanish teams is W3 D0 L5 (W1 D0 L3 in Spain). They won their first game on Spanish soil at the last attempt, beating Villarreal CF 1-0 in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage.

Match background
• Athletic have lost one of their last seven games at San Mamés, 3-0 against SV Werder Bremen in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage. Salzburg's Finnish defender Petri Pasanen was on the winning side in that fixture.

• Matchday two's 2-0 win against Paris Saint-Germain FC ended a three-game wait for an Athletic home win in Europe. They have been held by Trabzonspor AŞ (0-0) and RSC Anderlecht (1-1), and had that 3-0 loss to Werder Bremen, in their most recent matches at San Mamés.

• Salbzurg have not won in four UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League away games since their last visit to Spain for the aforementioned game against Villarreal.

Team facts
• All four of Athletic's group stage goals this season have come before the break – against PSG and ŠK Slovan Bratislava – while Salzburg have also struck four against the same opposition, all of which have come after half-time.

• Salzburg boast Spanish talent in the form of left-back José María Anton, a one-time trainee with Real Madrid CF and Real Betis Balompié.

• Salzburg midfielder Rasmus Lindgren was in the AFC Ajax side that suffered a 4-0 home defeat by Real Madrid in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Athletic's coach is former Argentina defender Marcelo Bielsa, who briefly coached RCD Espanyol in Spain in 1998 before taking charge of the Argentina (1998–2004) and Chile (2007–11) national teams. Athletic's 0-0 draw against Trabzonspor in the play-offs was his first UEFA club competition game.

• Dutchman Ricardo Moniz is now in charge at Salzburg, having stepped up from a role as skills coach to replace Huub Stevens, following his countryman's dismissal in April. Moniz's only previous front-line coaching experience came in a caretaker role at Hamburger SV, but he has worked as a specialist trainer at Feyenoord, Grasshopper-Club, PSV Eindhoven and Tottenham Hotspur FC.