Athletic Bilbao football club

Is a football club from the Basque Athletic Bilbao autonomous community in Spain. Athletic founded in 1898 has played in Primera since its establishment. The Lions, which is their nickname, are among the top Spanish clubs. They have won eight La Ligas and 23 Copas del Rey. Their most recent trophy is the Spanish Super Cup won in 2015. Athletic, which is based at San Mames, is famous for having only Basque players. Their players don’t have to be exceptionally Spanish, but be from the Basque Country or have the Basque roots. This fact gained ATH a lot of admirers. Their biggest rival is a fellow Basque side Real Sociedad.

Most triumphs of the Lions were in the early 1900s, and the Basque side hasn’t been prosperous for almost three decades. However in the2010s Athletic increased its strength. The club reached Europa League final and competed in the Champions League. Their achievement was possible due to their young academy alumni. Fernando Llorente, Ander Herrera and Javier Martinez displayed their talent at San Mames and later joined European top clubs.

The current Athletic’s manager is Ernesto Valverde, who was appointed in 2013. The prominent players of present Athletic are the defender Aymeric Laport, the midfielders Raul Garcia and Benat Etxebarria, the attackers Iker Muniain and Inaki Williams and their leading striker Aritz Aduritz. Athletic has reached the Europa League quarterfinal and is a senior contender for this trophy. You can watch Athletic Bilbao online on Ball-control.