 San Mamés prior to a UEFA Champions League fixture, 2014 | |
| Club | Athletic Club |
|---|---|
| Seasons played | 31 |
| Most appearances | Markel Susaeta (75) |
| Top scorer | Aritz Aduriz (34) |
| First entry | 1956–57 European Cup |
| Latest entry | 2024–25 UEFA Europa League |
| Titles | |
| Champions League | 0 (Best: Quarter-final) |
| Europa League | 0 (Best: Runners-up twice) |
| Cup Winners' Cup | 0 (Best: Second round) |
| Inter-Cities Fairs Cup | 0 (Best: Quarter-final three times) |
Athletic Bilbao, a professional football club based in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain, has competed in international tournaments as representatives of La Liga since 1956. The club's first entry into an official competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) was the European Cup in 1956–57 (its second edition) as national champions; they reached the quarter-finals.
Athletic have yet to win a continental trophy in 32 attempts, up to and including the 2017–18 campaign.[1] They finished runners-up in the two-legged 1977 UEFA Cup Final, losing to Juventus on the away goals rule, and in the 2012 UEFA Europa League Final which finished 3–0 to compatriots Atlético Madrid. The club have twice reached the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, in 1998–99 and 2014–15, but did not qualify for the next phase on either occasion.
The striker Aritz Aduriz contributed 34 European goals for the club over a six-year spell from 2012 to 2018, winning the Europa League's top scorer award twice (one shared). The player with the most appearances, winger Markel Susaeta (75 matches), was also heavily involved in that period as well as during the 2011–12 Europa League.
- ^ "Athletic Club will play in the UEFA Europa League". Athletic Bilbao. 27 May 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.