Preview:Athletic Bilbao vs Qarabag FK – prediction, team news, lineups

Athletic Bilbao will be aiming to bounce back from successive defeats in this season’s Champions League when they resume their league phase at home to an in-form Qarabag FK on Wednesday night.

The Lions are 34th in the 36-team Champions League table, but the Azerbaijani side have been one of the surprise packages thus far, picking up six points to sit in sixth position in the rankings.

Match preview

Athletic opened their 2025-26 Champions League league phase campaign with a 2-0 defeat at home to Arsenal, before going down 4-1 to Borussia Dortmund in their second match of the tournament, with zero points from two matches leaving them down in 34th spot in the table.

Ernesto Valverde‘s side will enter this match off the back of a goalless draw with Elche in La Liga, and they have only managed to win one of their last nine matches in all competitions.

The Lions actually started their season with three straight league wins over Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano and Real Betis, but they have only posted one victory since, with the team sitting eighth in the La Liga table, boasting 14 points from nine matches.

Athletic finished fourth in La Liga last season to secure a return to the Champions League, with the Basque outfit in the league phase/group stage for the first time since 2014-15.

Last season, Athletic reached the semi-finals of the Europa League before losing to Manchester United, but they have never been in the knockout round of the Champions League.

As for Qarabag, the Blue and Whites have picked up six points from their first two games in this season’s Champions League, beating Benfica 3-2 and Copenhagen 2-0.

Gurban Gurbanov’s side are sixth in the overall Champions League table on six points, with Arsenal, Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich the only other sides to claim maximum points.

Qarabag have won each of their last six matches in all competitions, including a 2-1 success over Turan in the Azerbaijani Premier League on Friday night.

The Blue and Whites are top of the Azerbaijani Premier League, picking up 16 points from their first seven matches, and there is no question that they will enter this match in the better form.

Qarabag are competing in the league phase/group stage of the Champions League for the first time since 2017-18, and they are looking to reach the knockout round of the tournament for the first time in their history.

Athletic Bilbao Champions League form:

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Athletic Bilbao form (all competitions):

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Qarabag FK Champions League form:

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Qarabag FK form (all competitions):

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Team News

Athletic will again be without the services of Yeray Alvarez through suspension, while Benat Prados and Unai Egiluz are out of the Champions League fixture on Wednesday night.

A late check needs to be made on Inaki Williams, who has a muscular issue, but the experienced attacker is expected to be available to start, while his brother Nico Williams will also be in the XI.

There are not expected to be any major surprises in the Athletic team on Wednesday, with Oihan Sancet and Gorka Guruzeta also set to feature in the final third of the field.

As for Qarabag, no injury problems have been reported, so the visitors could have a full squad for this contest, and they have a number of players in excellent form.

Abdellah Zoubir has scored four goals and registered four assists in all competitions this season, and the 33-year-old will be among the starters for Qarabag against Athletic.

Leandro Andrade has four goals and three assists this term and will also be in the XI, while Kady Borges and Camilo Duran are also set to feature from the first whistle in the European fixture.

Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:

Simon; Areso, Vivian, Laporte, Berchiche; Jauregizar, Ruiz de Galarreta; I Williams, Sancet, N Williams; Guruzeta

Qarabag FK possible starting lineup:

Kochalski; Silva, Medina, Mustafazada, Cafarquliyev; Borges, Bicalho; Kashchuk, Andrade, Zoubir; Duran

We say: Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Qarabag FK

Athletic will have home advantage on Wednesday, but Qarabag are a team to be taken incredibly seriously due to their impressive form this season. We are expecting a tight match here, with the points potentially being shared in a 1-1 draw. 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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