Östersund v Athletic background

Östersund's startling first season in Europe continues with a UEFA Europa League home game against an Athletic Club team needing to bounce back from a surprise defeat.

Previous meetings
• These sides are meeting for the first time; neither club has faced opponents from their rival's home country before.

• Spanish teams are unbeaten in 18 UEFA encounters with Swedish clubs (W16 D2) since IFK Göteborg beat Barcelona 2-1 in the UEFA Champions League in December 1994.

Form guide
• Östersund have won both of their Group J matches – and have triumphed in all four of their UEFA home games to date without conceding a single goal.

• Athletic had been unbeaten in five European fixtures this season (W3 D2), from third qualifying round to group stage, but then lost 1-0 at home to Zorya on matchday two.

• First-time Swedish Cup winners in 2016/17, Östersund have reached the UEFA Europa League group stage in their debut UEFA campaign, having eliminated Galatasaray, Fola Esch and PAOK in qualifying.

• Seventh in Spain last term, Athletic have successfully negotiated the last two UEFA Europa League group stages, and notably were losing finalists in the 1976/77 UEFA Cup and 2011/12 UEFA Europa League.

• Athletic have conceded 80 goals in the UEFA Europa League group stage to final – more than any other club.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Bilbao to Ostersund is around 2,500km.

• Athletic's Raúl García was a 2009/10 UEFA Europa League winner with Atlético Madrid.

• Athletic's Aritz Aduriz top-scored in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League with ten goals.

• Misses next match if booked: Fouad Bachirou (Östersund).

The coaches
• Englishman Graham Potter has helped steer Östersund from the Swedish fourth tier to the UEFA Europa League since taking the reins in 2011. He played in England's lower leagues with teams including Birmingham, Stoke and West Brom.

• Better known as 'Cuco', José Ángel Ziganda was a forward for Osasuna and Athletic Club, and later guided Osasuna to the 2006/07 UEFA Cup semi-finals as coach. He was handed the Athletic job in May 2017 after a six-year spell as B team boss.