Marseille v Athletic background

Olympique de Marseille can take some comfort from Athletic Club's record in France as two two-time final losers meet in the UEFA Europa League round of 32.

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

• Marseille's 11 games against Spanish teams have ended W2 D2 L7 (W2 D1 L2 at home – W0 D1 L4 in Spain). Those matches include a 2-0 loss to Valencia CF in the 2004 UEFA Cup final in Gothenburg.

• Athletic's record in six fixtures against French clubs is W1 D1 L4 (W1 D1 L1 in Bilbao – W0 D0 L3 in France). They have scored five goals in their three games in France, conceding nine.

Form guide
• Marseille have won their last two European home games – they had lost five in succession on their own turf prior to the 1-0 victory against SC Braga on matchday four.

• Athletic are unbeaten in four European contests (W3 D1). Their six group stage games this season produced 24 goals.

• Marseille most recently competed in the round of 32 in 2009/10, when they transferred across after finishing third in their UEFA Champions League section. Didier Deschamps' team then defeated FC København before succumbing to SL Benfica in the last 16.

• OM reached the final of the UEFA Cup twice, losing to Parma FC (3-0 in 1999) and Valencia (2-0 in 2004).

• Athletic are also two-time UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League final losers: Juventus beat them on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw in 1977, and they went down 3-0 to Club Atlético de Madrid in the 2012 decider. They were eliminated by Torino FC in last season's round of 32.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Bilbao to Marseille is around 700km.

• Athletic's Aritz Aduriz and FC Augsburg's Raúl Bobadilla are the top scorers in this season's UEFA Europa League with six goals each.

• Athletic are one of four clubs to have made it all the way from the third qualifying round to the round of 32 this term, along with AS Saint-Étienne, Borussia Dortmund and FC Krasnodar.

• The game is taking place the day after Marseille defender Stéphane Sparagna's 21st birthday; Athletic midfielder Beñat Extebarria turns 29 the day after the match.

• Athletic boast French talent in the form of centre-back Aymeric Laporte – the second French player, after Bixente Lizarazu, to represent the Bilbao club.

• Marseille have a Spanish player – right-back Javier Manquillo, on loan from Atlético. Team-mates Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid CF) and Abdelaziz Barrada (Getafe FC) also have Liga experience.

The coaches
• Míchel, 52, replaced former Athletic boss Marcelo Bielsa as Marseille coach in August 2015. A two-time UEFA Cup winner with Real Madrid in the 1980s, he occupied the Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, Getafe and Sevilla FC helms in his native Spain and came to France after steering Olympiacos FC to two successive Greek titles.

• Ernesto Valverde took charge of Athletic for a second time in June 2013. As a player, he enjoyed the most stable period of his career in Bilbao and promptly returned to the club after retiring, including as head coach from 2003 to 2005. Subsequently, he landed three Greek titles with Olympiacos and coached Villarreal CF and Valencia.