Athletic seek top spot against Slovan

With Athletic Club's place in the round of 32 confirmed, the Spanish side can now strive to finish top of UEFA Europa League Group F with victory against eliminated ŠK Slovan Bratislava.

Previous meetings
• Athletic won 2-1 when the teams met for the first time on matchday one, in what was the Spanish side's first meeting with a Slovakian club. Markel Susaeta (13) put the visitors ahead in Bratislava, and while Karim Guédé (34) made it 1-1 against the run of play, Iker Muniain scored what proved to be the winner on 40 minutes.

• Including that matchday one meeting, Slovan have contested six games against Spanish clubs, with their record reading W1 D2 L3. Their five most recent meetings with Spanish opposition pale into insignificance alongside their first; it seems improbable now, but Slovan beat Barcelona 3-2 to win the 1969 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Basel. They remain the only team from Slovakia - and the first from eastern Europe - to have won a major UEFA club competition.

• Athletic were given a bye to the UEFA Europa League after their play-off against Trabzonspor AŞ was abandoned midway through the tie, following a 0-0 draw in Bilbao. The Black Sea side had been invited to take Fenerbahçe SK's place in the UEFA Champions League after the latter's place in Europe was withdrawn by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF).

Match background
• Athletic have only lost one of their last eight games at San Mamés, 3-0 against SV Werder Bremen in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage. However, matchday two's 2-0 triumph against Paris Saint-Germain FC remains their only win in their last five continental home fixtures.

• Slovan have taken just one point from their first four Group F games. Their away form has deteriorated in the six matches since a 2-1 win at FK Crvena zvezda in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. They drew their next four games on the road, and lost the most recent two without scoring.

Team facts
• Athletic need two more goals to reach 150 in UEFA club competition; this will be their 104th UEFA game.

• Slovan are the second Slovak side to qualify for the group stage of this competition; MŠK Žilina made it in 2008/09 and triumphed 2-1 at Aston Villa FC but were eliminated with four points from five games.

• Vladimír Weiss led Slovakia to the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals but now combines his work with the national team with coaching Slovan. He is part of a footballing dynasty: his father, also Vladimír Weiss, played for Czechoslovakia, while his son, another Vladimír Weiss, is a Slovak international. The Slovan coach represented both Czechoslovakia and Slovakia as a midfielder.

• Athletic's coach is former Argentina defender Marcelo Bielsa, who briefly coached RCD Espanyol 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.