Athletic Bilbao will look to secure their spot in the playoff round of the Europa League when they travel to Inter Baku for the second leg of their third qualifying round clash on Thursday.
Bilbao are the firm favourites to advance from the two-legged affair after recording a 2-0 victory in the first leg last week.
Inter Baku
© Getty ImagesFor a team that was only founded in 2004, Inter Baku's presence at this stage of the competition is extremely impressive. Their journey might be about to come to an end, but their progression will be taken as a major positive.
Their presence at the top end of the Azerbaijani league table has seen them regularly take part in early stages of both the Champions League and Europa League, but this is actually the first time that they have reached the third qualifying round, having fallen at the previous stage on each of their last six attempts.
Last season, they were eliminated in the second qualifying stage by Swedish side Elfsborg and the fact that they have even made this round of the competition is a big achievement for a club that are only 11 years old.
Bilbao have only just joined this season's Europa League, but Inter Baku's journey started back on July 2. The Azerbaijani side beat Albanian outfit Laci on away goals in the first qualifying round, before overcoming Iceland's FH in round two.
Only an impressive turnaround will see Inter Baku advance into the next round, but they were far from disgraced in the first leg last week, losing by just two goals on a ground where the biggest teams in world football have struggled.
Inter Baku's home form has also been impressive of late, losing just one of their last 21 matches in all competitions on their own turf. They will have a quick turnaround after this match, meanwhile, as they open their domestic league away to Khazar Lankaran on Saturday.
Recent form: DDWDL
Recent form (all competitions): DDWDL
Athletic Bilbao
© Getty ImagesThere is just no comparing these two teams in terms of European pedigree, with Bilbao having experience of Champions League football as recently as last season.
Bilbao competed in the group stages of last season's Champions League after securing a top-four La Liga finish in the 2013-14 campaign, but it was a fairly underwhelming journey as they bowed out after finishing third in their section.
A Europa League knockout spot was secured, but Ernesto Valverde's side were beaten 5-4 on aggregate by Torino. For long spells of last season, a European spot via their league position seemed unlikely, but a strong end to the campaign saw them finish seventh and qualify for the Europa League.
The new La Liga season does not actually start until August 23, but Bilbao are building towards the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona, with the first leg due to take place at San Mames on August 14. Their league opener is also against Barca, which means that they will face the Catalan outfit three times in quick succession.
As such, it has been a busy pre-season thus far. They opened their preparations with a 1-1 draw against Krasnodar, before losing 3-2 at Greuther Furth. Since then, they have beaten Tijuana 2-0, and drawn back-to-back games against fellow Spanish teams Real Betis and Real Valladolid. Valverde's side were also in action on Sunday, losing 2-0 at Osasuna.
Javier Eraso was released by Bilbao in the summer of 2013, but he returned to the Basque outfit this summer after departing Leganes. The 25-year-old proved the hero in the first leg as he scored both goals against Inter Baku to place his team in a strong position ahead of the return match.
Bilbao will have watched fellow Spanish side Sevilla win the Europa League in each of the last two seasons with envy and knowing that they should be making an impression in Europe's second competition. They have twice finished as runners-up, but with a Champions League place now on offer for the winner, Bilbao could make a real challenge this time around.
Recent form: WDDLW
Recent form (all competitions): WDDLW
Team News
© Getty ImagesThe hosts have no fresh injury concerns from the first leg and in truth, Zaur Svanadze does not have much room for change when it comes to team selection.
Their most high-profile player – former Blackburn Rovers centre-back Zurab Khizanishvili - is expected to keep his spot at the heart of the defence, but Rauf Aliyev could be joined in attack by Brazilian forward Dhiego Martins, who did not get off the bench last week.
As for Bilbao, head coach Valverde is expected to make changes to his XI.
Kike Sola and Aymeric Laporte are both pushing for returns after only making the bench in the first leg last week, which could mean a rest for Aritz Aduriz.
Two-goal Eraso is expected to keep his spot in attack, however, alongside Sola and Ibai Gomez, who also started the first leg at San Mames.
Inter Baku possible starting lineup:
Agayev; Juanfran, Khizanishvili, Denis, Kasradze; Kvekveskiri, Bayramov, Poljak, Fomenko; Aliyev, Martins
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Herrerin; Balenziaga, Laporte, Gurpegi, Etxeita; Benat, Iturraspe, De Marcos; Eraso, Sola, Ibai
Head To Head
The first leg last week was the first time that these two sides have met.
We say: Inter Baku 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Inter Baku demonstrated last week that they are not out of their depth in this competition, but it is a big ask for the Azerbaijanis to turn this one around.
We think that it will be a tight match for long spells, but can see Bilbao's quality shining through and indeed being enough to advance into the playoff round.
