An opportunist strike from Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o was enough to give the Balearic islanders their first win at the San Mames stadium in 40 years, but the real hero of the night was goalkeeper Leo Franco.

The 23-year-old Argentine pulled off a string of superb reflex saves to deny an attack-minded Bilbao a victory in front of their home fans and he is now upbeat about his team's chances against last season's Premiership runner-up.

'Arsenal are a great team, but they don't scare us,' Franco was quoted as saying on Monday.

'We played against them in a pre-season match and although they beat us 2-0 there wasn't such a big difference between us and we aren't worried about the game.

'If they saw our game against Athletic on Saturday they are the ones that should be worried.'

Although Bernd Krauss's team are making their debut in the Champions League proper they do have experience of European competition and made a whirlwind run to the final of the now defunct Cup Winners' Cup in 1999.

The islanders, with Argentine coach Hector Cuper at the helm, showed little respect for their more experienced rivals as they claimed the scalps of Chelsea, Ajax and Monaco before losing 2-1 to Lazio at Villa Park, Birmingham.

The following season they qualified for the Champions League qualifying stages after finishing third in the league, but were knocked out on the away goals rule by Norway's Molde.

This time out they also had to overcome a tricky qualifier against Hajduk Split, but second leg goals from Eto'o and Albert Luque ensured a 2-1 aggregate victory and a passport to the first group stage.

And for a small club with limited resources Champions League participation signifies a financial bonanza that will help secure their future economic stabilty.

Mallorca stretched itself to the limit in splashing out a club record £5million on former Real Madrid striker Eto'o in the close season.

But the lightning-quick Cameroon star, who has played on loan for the islanders for the last two seasons, has wasted no time in doing his bit to repay the club's investment by notching some crucial goals in the early part of the season.

The club have an uncanny eye for spotting young talent on the transfer market and with 21-year-old Catalan Albert Luque partnering Eto'o the Balearic islanders have formed a potent attack that is the envy of the Spanish first division.