Arsenal start their quest for Champions League glory with an early Tuesday kick-off at Athletic Bilbao, live on talkSPORT 2.
The Gunners made the semi-finals last year before losing to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on aggregate.
It was disappointment for Arsenal in the latter stages of the Champions League
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It was disappointment for Arsenal in the latter stages of the Champions LeagueCredit: Getty
Mikel Arteta's side will be hoping to go at least one step further this year and make the final, and it all starts in Spain.
The Gunners are heading to the Basque country to take on Bilbao, who were in the Europa League last year.
Bilbao made it to the semi-finals of that competition before losing to Manchester United.
However, after an impressive campaign, they are back in the Champions League and will be looking for a home win to kick things off.
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Athletic Bilbao vs Arsenal: Date and how to follow
This Champions League League Phase game will take place on Tuesday, September 16.
Kick-off at the Estadio de San Mames is set for 5:45pm UK time, this is 6:45pm local time.
talkSPORT 2 will have live commentary of the game, with Joe Shennan and ex-Arsenal winger Perry Groves taking you through.
To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
talkSPORT.com will also be right across the action, while the game will be shown on TNT Sports 1.
Arsenal came close to Champions League glory last year, but it wasn't to be
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Arsenal came close to Champions League glory last year, but it wasn't to beCredit: Getty
This will be the first competitive meeting between Athletic Club and Arsenal, and just the third time the Lions have faced an English opponent in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (eliminated by Manchester United in 1956-57 quarter-final and Liverpool in 1983-84 last 16).
If Arsenal win this game, they will become the first side in European Cup/UEFA Champions League history to win six consecutive matches against Spanish sides. Indeed, they have won all five of their matches against Spanish opposition across the last two campaigns (two v Real Madrid, two v Sevilla and one v Girona).
Athletic Club have only lost two of their previous 10 home games against English sides in major European competition (W5 D3), although one of those did come in the most recent one, losing 3-0 against Manchester United in last season’s UEFA Europa League (semi-final first leg).
Athletic Bilbao vs Arsenal: Team news
One player Arsenal won't have to worry about will be former transfer target Nico Williams.
The Spanish international has an abductor injury, so misses out.
But despite there being no Nico, Inaki Williams is fit and raring to go.
They will be without Aymeric Laporte, who has been left out of the Champions League squad.
Meanwhile, the Gunners are sweating on Martin Odegaard's fitness after he limped off with a shoulder injury in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
It remains to be seen if the captain makes the trip or if he joins William Saliba and Bukayo Saka on the sidelines.
Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus are also out with knee injuries.
Williams' absence is a big boost for Arsenal due to his explosive nature
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Williams' absence is a big boost for Arsenal due to his explosive natureCredit: Getty
This will be Athletic Club’s first outing in the UEFA Champions League since the 2014-15 season, which was also under Ernesto Valverde, in the second of his three spells as club manager. Athletic have won six of their seven European matches played at San Mamés since Valverde returned in 2022 (L1).
Across the last two editions of the UEFA Champions League, only Real Madrid (33) have accumulated more points in the group/league phase than Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal (32 – P14 W10 D2 L2).
Arsenal only lost three of their 14 games in the UEFA Champions League last season (W9 D2), with all three defeats coming against 2024-25 finalists Paris SG (L2) and Internazionale (L1).
Athletic Bilbao vs Arsenal: What has been said?
Arsenal's new signings in Martin Zubimendi, Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze played a huge role in the win over Forest at the weekend.
And Arteta was delighted with their contributions, but he was particularly happy with Zubimendi, who scored twice.
He said: “He was unbelievable, the two goals are very difficult to score. Martin is bringing such a presence, composure and understanding of the game that makes the team flow and play better. And on top of that, he's adding goals and assists, so that's the trajectory that we have to maintain with him.
“It's not easy to adapt to the league, to adapt to a new way of playing, but [Cristhian] Mosquera is a great example. I think what he did against Liverpool, being thrown out there after three minutes at Anfield in your first exposure in the Premier League, is very difficult to do.
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“I think he was superb today again, and the rest were the new ones. So, again, let’s use that, learn from them. They are giving us a lot of information at the moment to make sure we use it in the right way.”
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Athletic Club boss Ernesto Valverde has only lost nine of his 42 games as a manager in the UEFA Champions League (W23 D10). Among Spanish managers with 10+ matches in the competition, only Pep Guardiola has a lower loss rate (17.1%) than Valverde (21.4%).
Arsenal have conceded just 18 goals in 24 UEFA Champions League matches under Mikel Arteta. Among teams with 20+ games under a manager, only four sides in the competition have a better goals conceded per game average (0.75): Fabio Capello’s Milan (0.38), Louis van Gaal’s Ajax (0.63), Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona (0.68) and Ernesto Valverde’s Barcelona (0.71).
Arsenal’s Viktor Gyökeres was directly involved in seven goals in eight appearances in the UEFA Champions League last season (six goals, one assist for Sporting CP), averaging a goal or assist every 87 minutes played. Only one Arsenal player had a minutes per goal involvement ratio under 100 (Bukayo Saka, 95).
No non-Spanish player has ever appeared for Athletic Club in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, while two could do so in this game: Ghanaian Iñaki Williams and Moroccan Maroan Sannadi.