Sevilla v Athletic background

Sevilla FC will look to take another step towards a third successive UEFA Europa League triumph when they welcome Athletic Club for their quarter-final decider.

Previous meetings
• In the sides' first UEFA competition meeting, Aritz Aduriz headed Athletic in front in Bilbao, but goals from Timothée Kolodziejczak and Vicente Iborra earned Sevilla their first away victory in Europe this season.

• Sevilla are now 65-63 ahead of Athletic (with 31 draws) in the teams' 159 competitive encounters (158 of them in Spanish football). Sevilla have had marginally the better of their 143 Liga tussles (W59 D29 L55), while Athletic have edged their 15 cup ties (W8 D2 L5).

• Kevin Gameiro scored both goals when Sevilla beat Athletic 2-0 at home in the Liga on 9 January – their sole previous meeting this term. The rematch at San Mamés is scheduled for 15 May, the sides' last game of the Liga campaign.

• Sevilla's 17 UEFA fixtures against Spanish rivals have ended W7 D3 L7 (W3 D2 L1 at home – W3 D0 L4 away). Those results include four UEFA finals played at neutral venues (W1 D1 L2).

• Athletic's record in six UEFA matches against other Spanish clubs is W2 D1 L3 (W2 D0 L1 at home – W0 D1 L1 elsewhere in Spain). Those results include a 3-0 loss to Club Atlético de Madrid in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League final in Bucharest.

Form guide
• Sevilla have won their last three European home games without conceding; they are also on a record run of 11 straight home victories in the UEFA Europa League (the last three by 3-0 margins).

• Athletic's away record in Europe this season reads W3 D1 L3; they have scored at least once in their last 13 UEFA matches.

• Sevilla won the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League for a record fourth time last term. No team have won three consecutive editions of a UEFA competition since FC Bayern München's third straight European Champion Clubs' Cup triumph in 1975/76. Sevilla are the first club to contest the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals for three seasons running.

• Athletic are two-time UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League final losers: Juventus beat them on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw in 1977, and the Basques also went down 3-0 to Atlético Madrid in the 2012 decider. This is their first quarter-final appearance since that campaign.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Bilbao to Seville is around 700km.

• Athletic's Raúl García played alongside Sevilla's José Antonio Reyes (2007–11) and Éver Banega (2008–09) during his time at Atlético Madrid (2007–15).

• Sevilla forward Fernando Llorente came through the ranks at Athletic, scoring 85 goals in 262 Liga outings between 2005 and 2013.

• Athletic's Aduriz is the leading marksman in this season's UEFA Europa League with nine goals; Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Villarreal CF's Cédric Bakambu are his nearest rivals with seven each.

• Aduriz could become the oldest top scorer in a single season of the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League; he will be 35 years and 97 days old on the day of the final. Alan Shearer – the leading striker in the 2004/05 edition with Newcastle United FC – holds the record: he was 33 years and 278 days old in comparison.

• This is Athletic's 150th UEFA club competition game; the previous 149 ended W65 D32 L52. Sevilla are one match ahead of them on 151 (W81 D30 L40).

• Athletic midfielder Óscar de Marcos turns 27 on the day of the rematch

• Sevilla forward Kevin Gameiro's next European outing will be his 50th in UEFA club competition.

• Athletic's Iago Herrerín is one of only four players involved in the quarter-finals who have played all 990 minutes of their sides' campaigns along with Villarreal's Víctor Ruiz, AC Sparta Praha's Costa and Liverpool FC keeper Simon Mignolet.

• Sevilla's Daniel Carriço has made more UEFA Europa League appearances (group stage to final) than any other player, 51 in total.

• Of the eight teams that transferred to this competition at the end of the UEFA Champions League group stage, just FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Sevilla remain in contention.

• Of the quarter-finalists, Liverpool (1973, 1976 and 2001), Sevilla (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015) and Shakhtar (2009) have won this competition before, while Athletic (1977 and 2012), SC Braga (2011) and Dortmund (1993 and 2002) have all lost UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League finals.

• Athletic are one of two clubs to have made it all the way from the third qualifying round to the round of 16 this term, along with Dortmund.

The coaches
• Unai Emery, 44, oversaw Sevilla's successes in the last two editions of the UEFA Europa League, having assumed control in January 2013. The one-time midfielder made his name during a four-year stay at the Valencia helm and briefly coached Spartak Moskva in 2012.

• 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, the 52-year-old landed Greek titles with Olympiacos FC and coached Villarreal and Valencia.

Penalty shoot-outs
• Sevilla have won four of their five UEFA penalty shoot-outs (L1 at home – W2 away – W2 at neutral venues):
W 4-3 A v PAOK FC (1990/91 UEFA Cup first round)
W 3-1 N v RCD Espanyol (2006/07 UEFA Cup final)
L 3-2 H v Fenerbahçe SK (2007/08 UEFA Champions League round of 16)
W 4-3 A v Real Betis Balompié (2013/14 UEFA Cup round of 16)
W 4-2 N v SL Benfica (2013/14 UEFA Cup final)

• Athletic lost their only previous UEFA penalty shoot-out:
L 5-3 H v CFR 1907 Cluj (2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup second round)