Athletic Club vs Arsenal live: Team news, injury updates and lineups as Champions League kicks off in Bilbao

Today’s game will be the first competitive meeting between Athletic Club and Arsenal, with their only previous fixture coming last summer as the Gunners won 3-0 in the Emirates Cup pre-season tournament.

This is just the third time the Lions have faced an English opponent in the European Cup or Champions League, having been eliminated by Manchester United in 1956/57 and Liverpool in 1983/84.

When Thomas Tuchel called Trent Alexander-Arnold to tell him he was out of September’s England squad, the German said he was conscious of the right-back having to adapt to a new life in Madrid, but still stressed another point. This was also a football decision.

Alexander-Arnold isn’t as settled as some of his right-back rivals, and Tuchel wants to see how Xabi Alonso uses him. The England manager knows he’s going to spend a lot of time watching Spanish football this season, and may well witness an interesting dynamic in the Champions League this week.

Atletico Madrid’s trip to Liverpool – before Real Madrid follow in November – will showcase it through Conor Gallagher. For the first time in history, all three of the big Spanish clubs feature an English player at the same time.

Mikel Arteta is big on positive manifestation and one thing he has said this season has already come through. In the build-up to Tuesday’s opening-night Champions League match against Athletic Bilbao, the Arsenal manager has been telling his players and club staff about the specific type of rain you get in the Basque country. It feels like a light rain but, within minutes, “you’re absolutely drenched”.

Arsenal employees and fans will very much know how that feels, given the curtain of water that greeted them as they arrived in Bilbao on Monday afternoon. Arteta might have been one of the few club figures happy about that. This is home.

Tuesday September 16, 5.45pm

Arsenal v Atletico Madrid

Tuesday November 4, 5.45pm

Wednesday November 26, 8pm

Wednesday December 10, 8pm

Tuesday January 20, 2026, 8pm

Wednesday January 28, 2026, 8pm

Mikel Arteta said Arsenal have proved they are “good enough” to compete with anyone in in the Champions League as the Gunners look to take the final step in Europe.

Arsenal were beaten by eventual winner Paris Saint-Germain and Arteta said: “We were very unlucky in the semi-final not to get through.

“That is the moment you get deflated. And you have to understand what you need to do. But you take a lot of learnings from that, it is painful, and the expectations that we created was that we could go all the way. We showed a very good level of consistency and quality to reach that.

“It shows how difficult it is because we haven’t won it yet. We know it is going to be a really long journey.

“The margins in this competition are super small and you have to give yourself the best chance to win the game, and that includes having a full squad. But we are good enough and we can compete with any opposition on the day.”

The France defender has returned to the squad and travelled to Spain ahead of tonight’s game at Athletic Club, in what is a huge boost for the Gunners after it was thought that Saliba would be out for several weeks after limping off against Liverpool.

Mikel Arteta indicated that Bukayo Saka is not close to returning from injury as he confirmed the forward will miss tonight’s Champions League opener in Bilbao.

“I think there are still quite a lot of things to go through,” he said. “It’s very early to understand when and which week he’s going to be available. But he will certainly be pushing to be available as quickly as possible.”

Saka has not featured since the Premier League win over Leeds.

William Saliba trained ahead of the trip to Bilbao and could return to the squad, but Bukayo Saka remains out and Martin Odegaard is also set to miss the match after his latest right shoulder injury.

Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze could make their Champions League debuts after impressing in the win over Nottingham Forest. Declan Rice should return and Cristhian Mosquera could keep his place.

The Gunners kick off their Champions League campaign in the early slot on Tuesday, with their match in Bilbao starting at 5:45pm BST on Tuesday 16 September.

Athletic Bilbao v Arsenal will be shown live on TNT Sports and Discovery+, with coverage getting underway from 5pm.

Arsenal kick off their Champions League campaign away at Athletic Club tonight as the Gunners go in search of their first title in the competition after last season’s heartbreak.

Mikel Arteta’s side lost out to eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals, after a sensational victory over Real Madrid at the quarter-final stage.

It meant Arsenal finished the season without silverware after falling short of a title challenge in the Premier League but the Gunners have invested heavily over the summer.

Arteta has looked to build a squad capable of competing across multiple fronts and it will be put to the test at Athletic, who finished fourth in LaLiga last season.

But the hosts will be without star forward – and reported Arsenal target – Nico Williams. Follow all the build-up, team news and minute-by-minute updates from Bilbao in our live blog: