Bilbao relishing Champions League return

The UEFA Champions League group stage returns to Bilbao for the first time since 1998 when Spain's Athletic Club Bilbao entertain Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk in the San Mames Stadium Wednesday night.

Athletic Club booked their place in the competition by finishing fourth in the Spanish Primera Liga last season and beat a difficult Napoli in the preliminary round in August in front of 53,000 fans in the newly completed ground, to be drawn into a group which also includes Porto and Belarusian outfit, Bate Borisov, reports Xinhua.

Athletic warmed up for Wednesday's match with a 0-2 defeat away to FC Barcelona Saturday in a game they looked as if they were going to sneak a draw until a late defensive error allowed Neymar to score.

Coach Ernesto Valverde will limit his changes to the side which performed well in Barcelona with Mike San Jose for Carlos Gurpegui and Ibai Gomez for Market Susaeta the only two possible changes.

Meanwhile, striker Iker Muniain has highlighted the need for the club to maintain their impressive home form, which has seen them score in every home game and suffer just two defeats since the new San Mames was inaugurated at the start of the 2013-14 season.

"We have to be strong at home, as we were last season in the League, that was one of the reasons we are here in the first place," said the striker, who was content to be kicking off in front of the passionate home fans.

"It is always good to start at home. It helps you get the first three points, which are vital," he added, before warning that their Ukrainian rivals, who last season beat local rivals Real Sociedad twice in the same tournament, would be a tough nut to crack.

Shakhtar will look to sit deep and hit Athletic on the break and as they showed last season, the pace of Brazilian Luis Alberto can be decisive.

"We should not make the mistake of underestimating anyone, especially a rival of this level. Shakhtar are one of the toughest teams in the group, they have won all of their games this season and have quality from midfield going forward. It is going to be a tough game," concluded Muniain.