Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text commentary of the Champions League group-stage meeting between Athletic Bilbao and Shaktar Donetsk at San Mames. Both sides will be looking to get their European campaigns off to a positive start tonight in what should be a tightly-fought battle.

Shakhtar have made a perfect start to their domestic league season with six wins from six to put them top, while Bilbao have had a somewhat slower start with one win from their three games so far. Kickoff is now less than an hour away, so let's take a look at the team news.

TEAM NEWS!

SHAKHTAR DONETSK XI: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Azevedo, Fernando, Stepanenko, Costa Teixeira, Taison, Adriano

SUBSTITUTES: Kanibolotsky, Kryvtsov, Fred, Bernard, Marlos, Ilsinho, Gladkiy

So Shaktar have all their big guns available, with Brazilian contingent Alex Texeira, Douglas Costa, Luiz Adriano and Taison all having been named in the starting lineup for this evening's game. The Miners will be hoping for a repeat of their opening Champions League fixture from 12 months ago, when they saw off fellow Basque outfit Real Sociedad to kick off their tournament with a win.

ATHLETIC BILBAO XI: Iraizoz, Laporte, Gurpegi, Balenziaga, Benat, Iturraspe, De Marcos, Ibai Gomez, Rico, Muniain, Aduriz

SUBSTITUTES: Herrein, Moran, San Jose, Susaeta, Iraola, Guillermo, Aketxe

Ibai Gomez returns to the Bilbao starting lineup, although Mikel San Jose remains among the substitutes. Key man Aritz Aduriz will cause numerous problems for Shakhtar's defence if he plays at the top of his game, while Iker Muniain offers support from a wide area. The hosts will be desperate to get off to a winning start this evening in what is their first appearance at this stage of the competition since the 1998-99 campaign..

The setting for this evening's encounter

Welcome to San Mames! 2 hours remaining until kick-off! Where are you going to watch the match from? #UCL pic.twitter.com/fLYVJ3UiZQ — FC SHAKHTAR ENGLISH (@FCShakhtar_eng) September 17, 2014

Athletic Bilbao have lost some key men in recent times, not least Ander Herrera who made the move to Manchester United this summer, but last season was certainly one to remember for the Basque outfit with a fourth-placed finish in La Liga paving the way for a Champions League return.

Of course Ernesto Valverde's side first had to overcome the qualifying phase, and the draw did not work in their favour with Napoli the side picked out of the metaphorical hat alongside them. Bilbao came out on top, however, and in their new San Mames home, supporters will be looking to create a cauldron of noise to push their players on.

Athletic failed to kick on from that qualifying success against Napoli, though, and two defeats from their first three league games has seen them fall down to 12th in the early La Liga standings. By no means a disastrous start when you consider that one of those opponents was Barcelona, but Valverde will be hopeful of repeating last season's top-four achievement.

Tonight is very much about the Champions League, and if Bilbao are to progress they know just how important it is to win their home games. They may have moved stadium over the summer, but the Lions have lost just one of their last 15 European games on home turf, with eight victories across that spell.

Good omens for Shakhtar...

#Shakhtar are opening group match specialists having won six of their last seven opening group games! #UCL pic.twitter.com/g5SRNYcxEi — FC SHAKHTAR ENGLISH (@FCShakhtar_eng) September 17, 2014

So what about tonight's visitors? Well Shakhtar are a dominant force in Ukraine having added another league title to their name last season, and they have made a dream start this time around too with eight victories from eight games in all competitions.

Shakhtar may have won six of their last seven opening group-game fixtures in the Champions League - including that victory over Bilbao's local rivals Sociedad 12 months ago - but they have picked up just two wins from their last eight visits to Spain overall.

The Miners boast an array of high-quality attacking options, yet it's at the back that they have really shined so far this season. It is now 518 minutes since Donetsk last conceded a goal, which highlights just how much of a task Bilbao face tonight. It could very well be a cagey affair between two teams looking to weigh each other up for large parts.

PREDICTION! With that in mind I'm going to put my pessimistic cap on and back a goalless draw this evening. Sorry, folks.

Olexandr Gladkiy is Shakhtar's leading scorer in the Ukrainian Premier League so far this season with five goals in six games, though he begins this evening's game on the bench. I touched on Mircea Lucescu's charges' domestic record a little earlier, but it really is staggering. Eighteen goals for, one against, eight wins from eight games. They really are a dominant force, yet it's not really ideal preparation for what Shakhtar can expect from the Champions League.

It perhaps showed last season when the Miners dropped out of this competition at the group stage, before being edged out by Viktoriia Plzen in the Europa League round of 32. Lucescu knows that much more is needed, starting with a positive result in the Basque country this evening.

Just over 15 minutes to go before kickoff

Beroketa ariketak berdegunean #athlive pic.twitter.com/0OCgZnkIfa — Athletic Club (@athletic_eus) September 17, 2014

Group H is completed by Porto and BATE Borisov, giving this group a real 'Europa League' feel to it. No disrespect is meant by that, and very often these provide the best fixtures of the competition with every side confident that they can progress.

This is just Bilbao's second forage into the Champions League following their group-stage exit in 1998-99, while Shakhtar are more familiar with their European surroundings, and the Ukrainians even managed to reach the quarter-finals of the competition three years ago.

Athletic manager Valverde does bring some much needed European experience, however, although having reached the final of the UEFA Cup in 2009, his Espanyol side were edged out by Sevilla in Glasgow.

Incidentally, tonight's referee is Tasos Sidiropoulos from Greece, who will be officiating in his 27th UEFA match.

Well the waiting is almost over, the teams are now in the tunnel with kickoff just five minutes away. There is a lot of excitement around the glorious San Mames stadium, including from those situated in the away end, ahead of what should be an exciting European campaign for both.

The players are out onto the field and greeted by a rapturous applause; there won't be too many better atmospheres generated around Europe this week than the one just witnessed.

It goes without saying that a winning start in the Champions League is key. In a group that is likely to go right down to the wire, every goal will count. Valverde talked this week about the importance of Athletic getting quick out of the blocks in tonight's opener, but Shakhtar will of course have similar hopes.

KICK OFF! Athletic Bilbao get us underway at San Mames.

Some relentless early pressing from Shakhtar, who are not allowing Bilbao to pass the ball around the back. It pays off, too, as they quickly win the ball back, but they themselves are unable to push forward into midfield.

CHANCE! De Marcos managed to pick out Rico inside the box, but the midfielder's shot is skewed wide of goal. Decent early chance that for the home side.

It is clear to see that Shakhtar are looking to thread the ball in behind the Athletic backline. Over time they may have some success, but right now they are unable to find a way through.

The visitors give away possession in the middle of the park before seeing Gomez played in down the left, but his cross into the box is well cut out. As expected, the two teams are using these early minutes to just weight each other up a little.

UPDATE: PORTO 1-0 BATE BORISOV Yacine Brahimi has fired Porto into an early lead in the group's other game.

Rico's driving run puts Shakhtar under real pressure and he managed to play in Gomez in a half-decent position towards the edge of the box, but the Spaniard failed to test Andriy Pyatov.

SAVE! Taras Stepanenko manages to get away the first real shot of the game with a left-footed effort which is moving towards the bottom corner, but Gorka Iraizoz was equal to it down low to capture the ball.

What is noticeable about Athletic's play is the understanding between their players. Rico has pushed forward on numerous occasions so far in the opening 15 minutes or so, with Ater Iturraspe dropping deep to fill in for him.

Azeveldo blasts a pass across the face of goal from his wide position, but Iraizoz gets a fingertip to the ball to push it away from danger. The full-back is essentially playing as a winger at times.

De Marcos is given far too much time and space in a wide position, but with four teammates waiting in the box, he over hits his cross and it drifts out of play.

The full-back, who is rather unusually wearing the number 10 shirt, gets a better ball into the box this time, but it is still no quite good enough to pick out one of his teammates.

The experiences Darijo Srna is having to stand strong in his right-back berth following some tricky wide play from Shakhtar's wingers. The hosts have been unable to take advantage of their crosses into the box so far.

Bilbao certainly look promising going forward, but it's all very frustrating so far in terms of an end product. Just that one chance so far with 26 minutes played.

CLOSE! Gomez comes within a few inches of making the breakthrough for the Basque outfit. His free kick from the edge of the box scraped the post on its way through, before rustling the side-netting.

YELLOW CARD! Srna is the first man to enter the referee's book. It's difficult to see what the Croatia international did exactly, but the Greek official has had numerous words with him over the last 10 minutes or so.

UPDATE: PORTO 2-0 BATE BORISOV Porto double their advantage with Bracine bagging a brace.

It's all very quiet in the San Mames at the moment on the field. Same old story pretty much with Athletic edging the possession, but looking poor when it comes to crossing. Shakhtar work best on the break, so maybe they will create more openings as the game progresses.

YELLOW CARD! Taison is shown a yellow card for simulation. Correct decision from the referee, it must be said.

The visiting side are not allowing Bilbao to play the ball out from the back which is adding to the frustration, but to be fair to Valverde's side they are certainly looking to more likely to score so far. Muniain works a good position out wide, only to yet again fail to pick out a teammate.

YELLOW CARD! If only goals were as easy to come by as yellow cards in this first half... Iturrapse is the third player to be cautioned after bringing down Costa who was looking to break away.

UPDATE: PORTO 3-0 BATE BORISOV It's already game over in the game being contested elsewhere in Group H as Porto add a third before the interval.

PENALTY APPEAL! Aduriz is unhappy with the referee after claiming that he was bundled over in the box by Yaroslav Rakitskiy. The striker had half a shout to be fair, but the officials got that one right in my opinion.

Adriano working tirelessly at the other end to ensure that Bilbao can't pass the ball from the back. Half time will offer Valverde with an opportunity to change things around should he feel it necessary.

Just before the referee signalled for the end of the first half, Donetsk created a good opening only for the linesman to raise his flag for offside. It was a close decision, but it mattered little as the ball didn't end up in the net regardless.

So a goalless first half then, and not a lot in the way of chances. The best opening came early on when De Marcos picked out Rico inside the area, only for the midfielder to skew his shot somewhat. Since then it's been a case of Athletic's wide players struggling to pick out teammates with crosses.

Muinain did come close with a free kick, but Pyatov will argue that he had it covered even if it ended a few inches closer to the corner than it did. It's by no means been one sided, and Shakhtar have done very well to close down the Bilbao defence at every opportunity, and they look as though they will create more chances as their opponents tire.

The pace and power of the visitors has caused problems, but they have been unable to create any openings as such. It's been a different story for Porto, however, who lead BATE Borisov 3-0 elsewhere in Group H. They will top the standings this evening regardless you feel, but the incentive is there in the second half for one of Bilbao or Shakhtar to kick off their Champions League campaigns with a win.

Gladkiy remains a useful option from the bench for the Miners should Lucescu opt to go more attacking, but both sides remain unchanged at the interval as they emerge from the tunnel.

SECOND HALF! Here we go again! Shakhtar, wearing their all-white strip, get the second 45 minutes underway.

Hasi da bigarren zatia #athlive pic.twitter.com/bkydQryiZf — Athletic Club (@athletic_eus) September 17, 2014

It looked for a moment as though Shakhtar were going to hit their opponents on the break, but having burst forward Bilbao managed to find their shape in time to cut out a cross into the box.

YELLOW CARD! Oleksandr Kucher is the fourth player to receive a yellow card for his late challenge. Spot on from the referee yet again.

SHOT! The resulting free kick is swung into the box, and it drops to the feet of Aymeric Laporte who in turn gets away a shot on goal. The strike was rather weak, however, with Iraizoz handling it with ease.

Stepanenko works some space in a promising position down the left-hand side, and his chipped cross into the box was by no means the worst you'll ever see, but it fails to reach a teammate. Have the teams swapped kits at half time, because that was a replica of what we saw from Bilbao in the first half!

Shakhtar full-back Azevedo just loves getting forward, and he wins his side a corner which the Ukrainian Premier League champions fail to take advantage of. Changes are surely imminent.

UPDATE: PORTO 4-0 BATE BORISOV Brahimi completes his hat-trick as Porto grab a fourth.

YELLOW CARD! Aduriz is shown a yellow for his challenge on Iraizoz. Not the worst challenge, but it was enough for the goalkeeper to require medical attention. He seems fine now, though.

CHANCE! Teixeira with a great chance to break the deadlock shortly after the hour mark. After charging through, the Shakhtar man managed to get a strike away at goal which was goalbound, but it is blocked by Laporte on its way through. Teixeira appealed strongly for a penalty, claiming it hit the defender's arm, but it wasn't given - rightly so, I'd say.

UPDATE: PORTO 5-0 BATE BORISOV No messing around from the Portuguese side this evening; they mean business. Shakhtar and Bilbao face a real task when they meet Porto in the coming month.

SUBSTITUTION: Markel Susaeta replaces Benat with 25 minutes still to play at San Mames.

SHOT! Costa gets a decent long-range strike in at goal, which Iraizoz does well to push behind. Credit to the visitors because their gameplan is paying off right now.

Shakhtar had the ball in the net at one end, although the referee had already blown for offside, while at the other Athletic came close themselves to edging ahead. A dangerous-looking cross into the box was well handled by Pyatov, who had a raft of opposition players around him waiting to pounce on a loose ball.

SUBSTITUTION! Frederico Fred is being introduced in place of Fernando. Lucescu makes his intentions known.

CHANCE! Shakhtar are the side better known for their counter-attacking play, but Muniain wins the ball in his own half after seeing his side successfully defend a corner, before charging towards to opposition goal. He doesn't have the legs to get away from Costa, however, who does brilliantly to dispossess the Spaniard.

SUBSTITUTION! That move clearly took it out of Muniain, who went down holding his legs in an apparent sign of cramp. He will play no further part, with Ager Aketxe the man to come on in his place.

SUBSTITUTION! Rather surprisingly considering that they are chasing a goal, Guillermo comes on in place of Aduriz.

UPDATE: PORTO 6-0 BATE BORISOV Well at least the average goal per game ratio in this group hasn't taken too much of a hit tonight...

SUBSTITUTE! It's all gone very slow and quiet now at San Mames as another sub is introduced. Bonfirm Marlos will look to make a difference as Taison leaves the field.

There's still time for one side to find a late winner in this one. The last 20 minutes have been poor in truth, and neither team looks likely to find a way through. Not to blow my own trumpet, but I did predict a goalless draw pre-match.

Shakhtar have actually scored at least once in each of their last 16 games in all competitions, but that particular statistic look like it will coming to an end tonight. The ball is just not finding its way into the final third at the moment.

YELLOW CARD! Susaeta is cautioned to bring the card tally up to six for the night.

SUBSTITUTE! Gladkiy is finally introduced, but he has just five minutes to make an impact. Adriano is the man to make way.

Same old story at the moment, this one has 0-0 written all over it. No chances to write home about.

Bilbao seem happy to knock the ball around with no real conviction as if they are happy to just settle with a point. Laporte opts to launch it, although fitting in nicely with the rest of the game, it drifts out of play.

Not the worst result for either side by any means, but that really was a dire game of football. The best opportunity came inside the first seven minutes, and even that was merely a half-chance for Rico. A lot of work for both to do ahead of gameweek 2.

That may be a little harsh on Shakhtar who came with the intention of getting a point, and that is exactly what they got. They will kick themselves if they miss out on qualification by a point come the business end of the group stage, however.

Well that's all from me for now, but stick around on Sports Mole as we bring you a match report, player ratings and a full analysis of the goalless draw from San Mames.