West Ham must come from 2-0 down against Bayer Leverkusen to reach the Europa League semi-finals this Thursday, live on talkSPORT 2.
The Hammers were beaten by two late goals from the now German champions who ended Bayern Munich’s dominance in the Bundesliga at the weekend.
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Xabi Alonso’s side are aiming for a historic double this season after this triumph and they will be desperate to get closer.
It will be an incredibly difficult task for David Moyes’ men to overcome Leverkusen, especially after a home defeat to Fulham on Saturday.
West Ham vs Bayer Leverkusen: Bundesliga winners
Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga title for the first time last weekend.
They are now 16 points clear of Bayern at the top of the table, winning the trophy after beating Werder Bremen 5-0.
Alonso led his team to glory and denied Harry Kane’s new side their 12th consecutive domestic success.
Their season has been special and they are still undefeated, going 42 consecutive matches in all competitions without losing.
Leverkusen now have their first trophy since 1993, but they will not stop there as they approach a second.
If they extend their long unbeaten run against West Ham, they will be just three games away from a second title of the campaign.
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- West Ham have won three of their last four home matches against a German club (loss 1), already beating SC Freiburg twice in the UEFA Europa League this season (2-0 in the group stage, 5-0 in the round of 16). final).
- Bayer Leverkusen improved from the previous 13 times they won the first leg of a home-and-away European knockout tie by more than 2 goals (including playoffs).
West Ham vs Bayer Leverkusen: team news
West Ham will be without Lucas Paqueta and Emerson, both suspended.
Jarrod Bowen is expected to undergo a very late fitness test to determine whether he can play a role, with his potential absence a major blow.
Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, Kalvin Phillips and Konstantinos Mavropanos are all expected to miss out due to injuries.
As for Leverkusen, Adam Hlozek missed his title match this weekend.
The striker is their only injury problem, but the Germans have plenty of cover up front with Patrick Schick and Victor Boniface.
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- West Ham have won each of their last 11 home games in European competitions (including qualifiers), including seven by a margin of 2 goals or more, which they need to avoid elimination in this draw against Bayer Leverkusen.
- Bayer Leverkusen have only won one of their 10 away games against English teams in all competitions (2 draws, 7 defeats), even if this victory came during their last trip to the capital against Tottenham in November 2016 ( 1-0).
West Ham vs Bayer Leverkusen: What was said?
Moyes spoke about the challenges of having to play every few days in competitions in Europe.
“Everyone wants to be in Europe,” the West Ham manager said.
“That’s part of a manager’s job: making Europe. Some teams have to win championships, we managed to make Europe.
“The downside is playing and having to come back from midweek games on a Thursday.
“The effort made by the players on Thursday [in the first leg] was immense and we received very little reward for it.
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- In the first leg, Bayer Leverkusen recorded 33 shots while West Ham had just one; since the creation of the UEFA Europa League in 2009, this is the largest shot difference (32) ever recorded between two teams in a match against each other in the competition.
- Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten in 10 UEFA Europa League matches (8 wins, 2 draws); in major European competitions, it was only between September 1986 and April 1988 that they remained unbeaten (14, all in the UEFA Cup).
West Ham v Bayer Leverkusen: talkSPORT coverage
This Europa League quarter-final will take place on Thursday April 18.
Kick-off at the London Stadium is scheduled for 8 p.m.
talkSPORT will provide live coverage of the match.
Comments will come from Adam Bridge and former West Ham manager Alan Pardew.
