Athletic Bilbao come from behind to beat Augsburg

A double from Aritz Aduriz has helped Athletic Bilbao come from behind to beat Augsburg 3-1 in the Europa League Group L opener at San Mames Stadium.

Spanish Super Cup winners Athletic came into the match on the back of their first La Liga victory of the season over Getafe at the weekend, and they started well with Aduriz coming close and Raul Garcia testing Marwin Hitz.

However, it was Augsburg, playing their first ever match in European competition, who took a surprise lead after quarter of an hour when Halil Altintop took advantage of an error by Inigo Lekue to head home from close range after his initial effort was saved by Iago Herrerin.

© Getty Images

Dominik Kohr's shot was blocked and Tim Matavz headed straight at Herrerin as Augsburg continued to impress on their continental debut, before Ji Dong-won was also denied by the goalkeeper.

After being dominated in the first 45, Bilbao started the second period much improved and Aduriz restored parity 10 minutes after the restart with a thumping header from Benat's corner after losing his marker.

The striker then turned the game on its head with his eighth goal of the season just 11 minutes later when he was the first to react to Markel Susaeta's ball across goal to slot home.

© Getty Images

Though Alexander Esswein was denied by Herrera, the German side never looked like matching their first-half performance after conceding, and Susaeta wrapped up the victory himself in the last minute.

The winger turned his marker on the edge of the area and curled a shot into the top corner via the crossbar to ensure that Athletic avoided a scare and began with a win.