He will be eager to make a statement start in Europe as Arsenal look to banish the painful memories of their agonising semi-final defeat by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain last season, having also been narrowly bested by Bayern Munich the year before in the last eight on their first return to the continent’s top table since 2016/17.
Arsenal have never previously won the Champions League, falling to Barcelona on their only final appearance in Paris in 2006. Olympiacos, Atletico Madrid, Slavia Prague, Bayern, Club Brugge, Inter Milan and debutants Kairat Almaty are all coming up in the league phase, where they placed third in its inaugural season behind only Liverpool and Barcelona, but first up is Athletic Club.
Ernesto Valverde’s side were beaten 3-0 by Arsenal in the Emirates Cup final during pre-season, but have made a good start in LaLiga and currently sit fourth after winning their first three games, a streak ended by a disappointing 1-0 home loss to Alaves at the weekend.
Athletic lost to Manchester United in last season’s Europa League semi-finals but sealed a first return to the Champions League since 2014/15 by finishing fifth in LaLiga, with the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle and PSG also on their schedule.
Date, kick-off time and venue
Athletic Club vs Arsenal is scheduled for a 5:45pm BST kick-off on Tuesday September 16, 2025.
The match will take place at the Estadio de San Mames in Bilbao.
Where to watch Athletic Club vs Arsenal
TV channel: In the UK, the game will be televised live TNT Sports 1. Coverage begins at 5pm.
Live stream: TNT Sports subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the Discovery+ app and website.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on Tuesday evening via Standard Sport’s dedicated live match blog.
Athletic Club vs Arsenal team news
William Saliba was not involved at the weekend but could return here having resumed training on Friday earlier than expected following an ankle issue, while summer signing Christian Norgaard will hope to be in the squad after also not making the bench against Forest despite being back in training after a knock.
Ben White returned as a substitute on Saturday, though Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus all remain out. Arteta will have one eye also firmly fixed on Sunday’s high-profile Premier League showdown with Manchester City.
Injury blow: Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard hurt his shoulder again at the weekend
Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Athletic Club vs Arsenal prediction
That easy win over Forest was just the tonic for Arsenal after the questions raised again about their big-game mentality and Arteta’s conservative approach after being edged out at Anfield prior to the international break, though he could have done without more injury concerns.
The Gunners have key games against City and Newcastle this month that could potentially disrupt from the early stages of their Champions League campaign, with Olympiacos visiting the Emirates in a fortnight’s time.
Athletic’s impressive early season momentum was halted by that shock home loss to Alaves, while Nico Williams would be a huge miss. We expect the visitors to edge a tight contest.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
This will be the first-ever competitive meeting between the two clubs in Europe.
Athletic Club vs Arsenal match odds
Athletic Club to win: 16/5
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
