Athletic Club Bilbao will make their return to the Champions League for the first time this century when Group H gets underway on Wednesday night at the new San Mamés stadium in Bilbao. Crisis-stricken Ukrainians Shakhtar Donetsk will be their opponents, with the two sides both looking to get maximum points on the board in an even-looking group also containing FC Porto and BATE Borisov.
A 4-2 aggregate win over Italian dark horses Napoli was enough for the Basque side to seal their way back into the Champions League in the final qualifying round, and are likely to field a similar side to that which won the second leg 3-1 in Bilbao. A 2-0 loss to Barcelona at the weekend should not dampen their spirits - they held the Catalan giants at arm's length for most of the game before they were sunk by a late Neymar double - and their emotional return to Europe's premier competition means that there is a positive feeling around the club which can be translated to a good performance on the pitch.
Meanwhile, Shakhtar qualified for the group stage by means of winning the Ukrainian Premier League, their fifth straight domestic title. Finishing six points clear of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in second, complacency and a lack of high quality opposition in their home country could prove to be stumbling blocks for a talented squad containing a core of Brazilians such as Bernard, Douglas Costa and Taison as well as the immensely experienced Darijo Srna at full back. Shakhtar will be hoping for a repeat of last year, where they began the Champions League group stage with a 2-0 win at Athletic's Basque neighbours Real Sociedad.
Athletic's home-grown winger - as is the rest of their squad - Iker Muniain has been speaking positively of a draw which sees Athletic start and finish the group stage at home. "To start and finish the group stages at home is always positive," said the 21-year-old to Spanish paper Marca. "Despite the loss at Barcelona, there is a positive atmosphere in the group and more so considering that we are playing our first group game at the San Mamés stadium." However, he is under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task awaiting his teammates. "To play at home will help us to be ready and clinch three points against Shakhtar, which is vital. I think this is an open group. I think our three group rivals are dangerous although perhaps Shakhtar is the strongest of them all."
Shakhtar manager Mircea Lucescu has also spoken of the danger posed by Athletic's vociferous home support, telling the club's official website: "We face a difficult encounter in Bilbao, he atmosphere in Bilbao will stimulate primarily the home team." However, confidence should be high amongst the ranks of the travelling side who have had a perfect start to the league season in Ukraine, and haven't conceded a goal in 518 minutes - more than eight hours of competitive action.
With kickoff set for 19:45BST, expect the new San Mamés to be rocking regardless of the result on Wednesday night, though Athletic have rightly been made favourites. We'll have live coverage of all of the Champions League action in the group stage and beyond, right here on VAVEL.