San Mamés doesn’t just host European nights—it bends them to its will. Ernesto Valverde understands that channeling the crowd is half the plan here: compress the pitch, funnel you wide, and let the noise press your touch. Across the line, Mikel Arteta arrives with a calmer, deeper Arsenal who can live with pressure, recycle the ball, and then sting on the first mistake. This isn’t a clash of styles as much as a clash of rhythms: Valverde wants the night to lurch in bursts; Arteta wants it to hum like a metronome until one pass slips the lock.


Athletic’s route to goal

Even when they knock it around, the Lions fly when a lane opens. Iñaki Williams still makes those diagonal sprints that force a centre-back to the sideline; Gorka Guruzeta lives off early crosses and near-post darts; Oihan Sancet stitches the final third together with one-touch passes around the D. If Nico Williams features, he turns half-chances into panic with that first explosive step. Behind them, Unai Simón’s composure on the ball lets the full-backs take a step higher; Dani Vivian attacks first contact, while Yuri Berchiche chooses overlaps that don’t leave a canyon behind him. Athletic want a race: win the header, force the throw, take the corner, and keep Arsenal stuck in their own 30 metres until something breaks.


Arsenal’s plan

Arteta’s side is at its best when the middle belongs to them. Declan Rice screens counters and sprays diagonals; Martin Ødegaard conducts tempo—slow, slow, snap—then shows into the pocket for the disguised pass. The No.9 picture has shifted: Viktor Gyökeres pins centre-backs, then darts across the front stick to finish low crosses. If Bukayo Saka starts, Arsenal gain the direct far-post run and a gravity well on the right; if he’s managed, Noni Madueke offers pure carry and cut-inside threat. William Saliba and Gabriel relish aerial duels; what they don’t want is a game broken into long sprints where Iñaki or Nico chase diagonals into the space behind an inverted full-back.


Key battles

  • – Vivian vs Gyökeres in tight spaces: who wins the pin and spin in the box
  • – Sancet vs Rice between the lines: the keyhole where shooting lanes open.
  • – Ødegaard vs Mikel Vesga’s screen: can Arsenal’s conductor find the seam under pressure
  • – Far-post runner vs full-back: one lapse on a deep cross writes the headline.


Set pieces: the quiet decider

San Mamés amplifies dead balls. Sancet’s outswingers target traffic zones; Arsenal must attack first headers and exit cleanly. At the other end, Arsenal’s short-corner routines drag markers out and invite the square pass to the edge—Rice has to guard that arc so counters don’t start from their own corner.


The San Mamés effect There is always a ten-minute surge—often after the first big tackle or early corner—when Athletic tilt the field, stack throw-ins, and live in the visitors’ half. If Arsenal survive that spell with two safe passes then a diagonal, the crowd cools and the game returns to Arteta’s
rhythm. If those exits are shanked, the pressure compounds and corners arrive like a drumline.


Tactical outlook & prediction

What Athletic need: first contacts, fast wide switches, corners in volume, back-post arrivals. What Arsenal need: secure build-out, counter-press that bites, patient width, decisive cut-backs.

Prediction: Athletic Club 1–1 Arsenal — early storm, late control, points shared. If Arsenal score first, 0–1 is live.
Squad check (UCL list): Athletic — Unai Simón, Dani Vivian, Yuri Berchiche, Mikel Vesga, Oihan Sancet, Iñaki & Nico Williams, Gorka Guruzeta. Arsenal — Martin Ødegaard, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Viktor Gyökeres, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães.