Usually, teams playing in La Liga make their presence felt on European tournaments. This time, two top contenders from Spain will face each other trying to make it to the Europa League Quarter Finals. Athletic Club, the only team capable of defeating Barcelona to a title this season, will face Gary Neville's Valencia, a team that hasn't lived up to their fans' expectations, but could end up shocking Los Leones if they can take their chances.
Athletic Club made it to thi stage after prevailing against Marseille thanks to an away goal during the first leg of their Round of 32 Series. A 1-1 draw sealed the deal for Ernesto Valverde's crew with an aggregate of 2-1 against the French crew. On the other side, Neville's crew hardly broke a sweat to defeat Rapid Wien, destroying the Austrian side with a 10-0 aggregate following a 6-0 win during the first leg.
During their La Liga games last weekend, Athletic returned home after defeating Sporting Gijón in style with a 2-0 scoreline. Valencia wasn't able to build on their good streak, and ended up losing against Atlético Madrid 3-1.
Athletic Club will not have available speedy striker Inaki Wiliams and Ibai Gomez, while Aritz Aduriz is expected to perform for Valverde's side despite picking up a hard knock against Sporting on the weekend.
Valencia will not have two key players available for the first leg of this series, as loanee Denis Cheryshev came down with a thigh injury last weekend, creating a bit of a problem for Neville, who found the Russian to be quite an asset for Los Naranjeros. Argentinean midfielder Enzo Pérez is also expected to sit this one out, forcing the former pundit to start Danilo in the holding midfielder position next to Dani Parejo and Gomes.
Head to head
Considering al competitions, Athletic and Valencia have faced each other 46 times since 1993. Valencia has emerged victorious 20 times, adding 13 draws and 13 losses to their record against Los Leones. Nevertheless, Athletic has managed to stay undefeated against Valencia in their most recent seven games, winning three and drawing four times. Valencia hasn't been able to defeat Athletic since October of 2012 (3-2)
Where to watch Athletic vs Valencia on TV or online?
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Fans in Spain will be able to follow this game on beIN Sports Spain and beIN Sports Connect S.P. starting at 21:05 hrs CET.
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Those who live in the U.K. can tune in on BT Sport Showcase, BT Sport 2 and BT Sport Live Streaming at 20:05 hrs GMT.
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Living in the U.S.? ESPN3 USA and Fox Soccer 2GO USA are your options to watch this game startiing at 15:05 hrs EST.
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Football fans in Canada can tune in on TSN2, starting at 13:05 hrs PST.
Live elsewhere? Check out the Athletic Club vs Valencia match page for detailed info to watch this game in your country.
*Please note that all live games, TV Schedules and online streaming info are subject to change.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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