Athletic in search of maiden win at Lyon

Olympique Lyonnais will look to make it nine points from a possible nine in Group I as they take on 2011/12 UEFA Europa League finalists Athletic Club – a side who have yet to avoid defeat in France.

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

• Lyon's 20 previous games against Spanish sides have ended W5 D6 L9 (W4 D3 L3 at home – W1 D3 L6 in Spain). They have not won in their last five games against Liga opposition.

• Athletic's record in four games against French sides is W1 D1 L2 (W1 D1 L0 at home – W0 D0 L2 in France). They met Paris Saint-Germain FC in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage, winning 2-0 at home but going down 4-2 in the French capital.

Match background
• Only Club Atlético de Madrid, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Lyon go into matchday three with maximum points from their opening games.

• Athletic have not triumphed in three European games since winning 6-0 at home against HJK Helsinki in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League play-off, recording two draws and then a 3-1 defeat at AC Sparta Praha on matchday two.

• The Bilbao side have not won in five European away games (D1 L4) including the final of the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League in Bucharest, in which they were the nominal away side.

Team facts
• Athletic need two more goals to reach 150 in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage – this is their 93rd game in the competitions.

• Lyon defenders Anthony Réveillère (Valencia CF), Mouhamadou Dabo (Sevilla FC) and Fabián Monzón (Real Betis Balompié) all have experience of Spanish football.

• Rémi Garde replaced Claude Puel as Lyon coach in June 2011, having worked behind the scenes as a coach and assistant manager since 2003, and also as a television pundit after hanging up his boots. Capped six times, Garde played as a defender for Lyon and then RC Strasbourg, finishing his career in England at Arsenal FC.

• Athletic coach Marcelo Bielsa was a midfielder in his native Argentina, initially with CA Newell's Old Boys, the club where he started his coaching career. Briefly boss of RCD Espanyol in 1998, the studious Bielsa was in charge of Argentina (1998–2004) and Chile (2007-2011) before coming to Bilbao, where he reached the finals of the Copa del Rey and UEFA Europa League in his first season.

• This is FARE Action Week, with UEFA giving its support to Europe's biggest anti-discrimination campaign. There are activities before each UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League game which will be witnessed by thousands of fans in the stadiums and millions on television. A 30-second RESPECT TV spot and announcements over stadium loudspeakers will encourage fans to join the UEFA family in its call to unite against racism in football. Every team will be accompanied on to the pitch by children wearing Unite Against Racism T-shirts and captains will be asked to wear a Unite Against Racism armband.