Athletic v Sassuolo background

Athletic Club have given themselves a tough act to follow with Aritz Aduriz's five-goal salvo against Genk on UEFA Europa League matchday four, and they need to be sharp as Sassuolo come to Bilbao in Group F.

• Athletic are through with a win if Genk also win at home to Rapid Wien; Sassuolo are out if they lose and the other game is not drawn.

Previous meetings
• In what was their first encounter with Spanish opponents, Sassuolo made light work of Athletic on matchday one, winning 3-0 in Reggio Emilia.

• Athletic's record in 18 matches against Italian sides is W8 D4 L6 (W6 D1 L1 in Bilbao). Those fixtures include the 1977 UEFA Cup final against Juventus, who triumphed 2-2 on away goals after a 2-1 second-leg reverse in Bilbao.

Form guide
• Athletic are unbeaten in their last six UEFA Europa League group stage home games (W4 D2).

• Sassuolo have scored once in all four of their European away games to date, those four goals earning them three draws and one defeat.

• Losing finalists in 1977 and 2012, Athletic have made it through four of their previous five UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.

• Sassuolo and Konyaspor are the only clubs in the 2016/17 group stage who are in their debut European season.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Sassuolo to Bilbao is around 1,100km.

• Sassuolo boast Spanish talent in teenager Pol Lirola, who is on a two-year loan from Juventus. The defender started his career with Espanyol and made one league appearance for their B side in November 2014.

• Sassuolo's Stadio Città del Tricolore was the venue for the 2016 UEFA Women's Champions League final.

• After his five goals in the 5-3 success against Genk, Aduriz is level with Zenit's Giuliano on five goals in this season's group stage top scorers' list. The ten-goal top scorer in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League, Aduriz is the first player to score five times in a UEFA Europa League match (excluding qualifying). Just two players – Radamel Falcao and Edinson Cavani – had previously scored four in a single game.

• Aduriz is now five goals clear of Fernando Llorente as Athletic's all-time European top scorer, with 21 goals.

The coaches
• Ernesto Valverde took charge of Athletic for a second time in June 2013, having led his old club from 2003 to 2005. The former forward later steered Espanyol to the 2007 UEFA Cup final, landed three Greek titles with Olympiacos and coached Villarreal and Valencia.

• Eusebio Di Francesco's career high as a player was winning the Scudetto with Roma in 2000/01. The 12-times capped midfielder has since worked wonders at Sassuolo, guiding an attack-minded team from Serie B into Europe.