Under new head coach José Ángel Ziganda, Athletic scraped into a Europa League place for the 2017–18 season due to cup winners Barcelona entering the Champions League as usual, leaving a spot for the 7th-placed "Lions". Preliminary rounds against strong opposition for that stage (Dinamo Bucharest and Panathinaikos) were overcome, but a poor start in the group stage – including a home defeat to Zorya Luhansk in which Muniain sustained a serious injury and a tough match in Sweden (the first tie in that country) against newcomers Östersunds FK featuring an equaliser by Iñaki Williams in the closing minutes – left Athletic with two points from three games and looking unlikely to progress. However, three victories were then achieved with more late goals by Williams, Aduriz and Raúl García, yielding 11 points in total and qualification as group winners.