Clashing in competitive action for the very first time, Arsenal and Athletic Bilbao open their 2025-26 Champions League league phase campaigns on Tuesday at the San Mames Stadium.
The Gunners have only been on an upward trajectory in Europe since returning to the elite, while their hosts are competing in the Champions League proper for just the third time ever.
Match preview
The lack of European silverware continues to bedevil all associated with Arsenal, who have not conquered the continent in any shape or form since winning the 1994 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but there is a sense that Mikel Arteta's men are now genuine contenders for Champions League stardom.
After ending the club's seven-year exile from the tournament, Arteta guided the Gunners to the quarter-finals in 2024 before a semi-final showing in 2025, where they put up much more of a fight against eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain than Inter Milan did in the showpiece match.
Now entering a new European campaign on the back of a £250m summer spending spree, Arsenal harbour realistic ambitions of a Premier League and Champions League double, having amassed a respectable nine points from their first four games in the English top flight.
Despite missing Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Kai Havertz before losing Martin Odegaard to another shoulder problem, Arteta's men made extremely light work of Ange Postecoglou's Nottingham Forest on Saturday lunchtime, easing to a 3-0 win courtesy of a Martin Zubimendi double and Viktor Gyokeres's third in four matches.
Now, the North London giants are potentially just 90 minutes away from an unprecedented continental feat; should the visitors win this tie, they will become the first side to ever beat Spanish teams six games in a row in the European Cup/Champions League, having taken down Real Madrid (twice), Sevilla (twice) and Girona since 2023.
Athletic Bilbao manager Ernesto Valverde pictured on August 17, 2025
Arsenal reached the Champions League semi-finals for just the third time in their history last season, but hosts Athletic Bilbao are now competing in Europe's top competition for just the third time in their history since the tournament's rebranding in 1992.
Only Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid out-performed the Basque side in the 2024-25 La Liga season, where Ernesto Valverde's men claimed a stellar 70 points to nab fourth place, ahead of Villarreal - who also qualified for the Champions League - on head-to-head points.
Athletic's only previous showings in the Champions League came in the 2014-15 and 1998-99 campaigns, where they failed to make it out of the group stage on both occasions, but the eight-time La Liga champions have an added motivation to right those wrongs after a 7-1 aggregate loss at the hands of Manchester United in last year's Europa League semi-finals.
However, the international break ostensibly came at the worst time for Tuesday's hosts, who opened the 2025-26 La Liga season with three straight wins over Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano and Real Betis before a shock 1-0 home loss to Alaves on Saturday, courtesy of an unfortunate Alex Berenguer own goal.
While Tuesday's opening tussle will mark the first competitive showdown between Arsenal and Athletic, the Gunners welcomed Valverde's side to North London for this year's Emirates Cup, but Arteta's men barely needed to get out of third gear to retain the friendly trophy witha 3-0 triumph.
Athletic Bilbao form (all competitions):
Arsenal form (all competitions):
Team News
Arsenal's Martin Odegaard goes down injured on September 13, 2025
Deja vu of the cruellest kind struck for Arsenal captain Odegaard on Saturday, as the Norway international suffered his second shoulder injury in the space of three games; Arteta confirmed that his latest issue was to the same shoulder he hurt against Leeds United last month.
Gooners are waiting with bated breath to learn whether Odegaard will be fit for Tuesday - the same goes for Saliba (ankle) and Christian Norgaard (knock) - but Saka (hamstring), Havertz (knee) and Gabriel Jesus (knee) will watch this one from the sidelines.
With Manchester City on the horizon, Arteta may very well err on the side of caution with Odegaard and Saliba thanks to his enviable squad depth, and a multitude of changes - especially in defence - are not beyond the realm of possibility.
On Athletic's end, former Gunners target Nico Williams will not be up to his usual tricks on the left wing due to an adductor injury, while the returning Aymeric Laporte has been left out of Valverde's squad for the Champions League league phase.
Benat Prados (knee) and Unai Egiluz (ACL) are also absent for the Basque outfit, whose experienced defender Yeray Alvarez is serving a lengthy doping ban, and there are question marks over the availability of Inigo Lekue (adductor).
While one Williams brother is missing, captain Inaki Williams fit and raring to go on the right-hand side, and the highly-rated pair of Oihan Sancet and Mikel Jauregizar will operate in central positions.
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; Areso, Vivian, Paredes, Berchiche; Vesga, Jauregizar; I. Williams, Sancet, Berenguer; Sannadi
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Mosquera, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly; Merino, Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Gyokeres, Martinelli
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We say: Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal
Likely rearguard alterations on Arsenal's end could see the Gunners lose some of their well-documented defensive steel, but a Nico Williams-less Athletic are not well-placed to capitalise.
Even without Odegaard and Saka pulling the strings, Arteta's men still possess offensive quality in abundance, and we can only envisage the visitors making a triumphant start to another Champions League campaign.
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