Spartak Moscow – Athletic Bilbao

Spartak Moscow hosts Athletic Bilbao in a match from the 1/16-finals of the Europa League. Let’s have a look at this clash in the Russian capital.

Spartak Moscow entered Europa League after a participation in the group stages of the Champions League. In Group E of the CL Spartak finished third in the company of Liverpool, Sevilla and Maribor. They managed to win 6 points and finished their participation with a record of one win, three draws and two losses.

Now the Russians will have another difficult test against Athletic Bilbao – one of the most well known Spanish clubs on the planet.

Athletic finished first in Group J of Europa League, winning 11 points in the company of Ostersunds FK, Zorya and Hertha BSC. They had a record of three wins, two draws and one loss.

How these two teams are performing in their domestic leagues? Let’s have a look.

Spartak Moscow are currently 3rd in the Russian Premier League. Last season Spartak won the title, but now they are trailing on 8 points behind the leader Lokomotiv Moscow. They still have some chance to defend their crown, but it’s going to be difficult with a passive like this. In their last five games in the Russian league, Spartak won five consecutives times.

Meanwhile Athletic Bilbao are 13th in the Spanish La Liga, which is certainly not good enough for the Basques. They have a record of 6 wins, 10 draws and 7 losses since the start of the season. Clearly Athletic are having some problems to replace the manager Ernesto Valverde, who left the club for Barcelona last summer.

This is our examination of the La Liga game between Spartak Moscow and Athletic Bilbao in the Russian capital. Whatever you have decided about thisclash, we wish you a good luck!