History of Athletic Bilbao
Meanwhile, sons of the Basque educated classes had made the opposite journey and went to Britain to complete their studies in civil engineering and commerce. While in the United Kingdom, these students developed an interest in football and on their return to Bilbao they began to arrange games with British workers. In 1898, students belonging to the Gymnasium Zamacois founded the "Athletic Club", using the English spelling. In 1901, a meeting was held in the Café García, which established more formal rules and regulations. In 1902, the two Bilbao clubs formed a combined team, known as "Bizcaya", in the first Copa del Rey. They returned with the trophy after defeating Barcelona in the final. This would lead to the eventual merger of the two clubs as "Athletic Club" in 1903. In the same year, Basque students also formed "Athletic Club Madrid"; this club later evolved into Atlético Madrid. The club's foundation date is a subject of debate among football historians. The club itself declares 1898, but others claim 1901 or 1903 as the true founding year.
Athletic Bilbao in European football
In the quarter-final, they travelled to Schalke 04 of Germany and won the first leg 4–2, despite being 2–1 down on 72 minutes after a Raúl brace. The sides drew 2–2 in the second leg, allowing Athletic to progress to the semi-final against Sporting CP. A few hours after the match in Bilbao, an incident of disorder occurred near the stadium, during which Athletic supporter was shot in the head with a 'Flash-ball' fired by a member of the Ertzaintza police service and later died. Five years later, charges were brought against officers commanding the vehicles that attended the scene, with a trial date set for October 2018.
Athletic lost the semi-final first leg in Portugal 2–1 after initially taking the lead through Jon Aurtenetxe, but prevailed 3–1 at home with goals from Markel Susaeta, Ibai Gómez and the winner by Llorente in the 89th minute in front of a fervent home crowd to edge into the final in Bucharest, 4–3 on aggregate; Bielsa's adventurous tactics led to 28 goals being scored and 20 conceded across the six group games and eight knockout matches during the run. Llorente scored seven times, while Muniain and Susaeta got five each.