Europa League

Athletic Bilbao 3 - Augsburg 1

Athletic: Herrerín; De Marcos, Etxeita, Laporte, Lekue; Elustondo (Mikel Rico 46’), Beñat; Susaeta, Raúl García (Gurpegi 80‘), Ibai Gómez (Sabin Merino 64‘); Aduríz. 4-2-3-1.
Augsburg: Hitz; Verhaegh, Callsen-Bracker, Klavan, Feulner; Baier, Kohr (Trochowski 72‘); Esswein, Altintop (Koo Ja-Cheol 59‘), Ji Dong-Won; Matavz (Werner 66’). 4-2-3-1.

Goals:
0-1. 15. Altintop. Turned shot past Herrerín after defender blocked header.
1-1. 55. Aduríz. Got above marker to head long corner wide of keeper.
2-1. 66. Aduríz. Turned shot into roof of net after Susaeta tackled in area.
3-1. 90. Susaeta. Shot from edge of area which Hitz deflected in off bar.

Athletic Bilbao kicked off the league stage of the competition with a 3-1 victory over debutants Augsburg in the San Mamés stadium. The German side took the lead early on after Herrerín could only push out a shot by Esswein, Altintop scoring at the second attempt after his first header was blocked by a defender. And only a couple of good saves by Herrerín, in particular from Matavz and Esswein, prevented the visitors from going further ahead. After the break though Athletic came back, Aduríz powering a header past Hitz from a Beñat corner, and then scoring a second with a shot into the roof of the net after Susaeta battled through from outside of the area. And with the game coming to an end Susaeta added a third with a strike which the keeper could only push in off the bar to take Valverde’s team to the top of their group.