Athletic Bilbao have been handed an unexpected boost with UEFA´s announcement that they have qualified automatically for the group stages of the Europa League thanks to the Turkish Football Federation´s (TFF) withdrawal of Fenerbahce from the Champions League.
The Istanbul club was involved in a recent betting scandal and has been replaced by last season´s Super Lig runners-up Trabzonspor, the team Athletic were due to meet in Thursday´s second leg qualifier, which has now been cancelled. With the first leg at the San Mam
