West Ham have been handed an extremely tough draw for the quarter-finals of the Europa League in the shape of Bayer Leverkusen.
What is it about West Ham and German teams?
The Hammers played and lost to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League semi-finals two years ago.
West Ham then had Freiburg in their group in this season’s competition.
And they drew Freiburg again in the last 16. That meant 50 per cent of West Ham’s Europa League games this season have been against Freiburg!
Now the Hammers have been handed another Bundesliga side in the shape of Bayer Leverkusen.
And they don’t come much tougher than Xabi Alonso’s remarkable table toppers.
Bayer Leverkusen are – astonishingly – unbeaten across all competitions this season.
They are on course to win the Bundesliga and are second favourites for the Europa League behind Liverpool.
So that is the size of the task at hand for David Moyes’ side.
It’s a tough draw for West Ham but there’s 4 major plus points after landing Bayer Leverkusen.
1) Big home advantage for Hammers
The two-legged last eight tie will take place on Thursday April 11th and Thursday April 18th.
Having been drawn out of the bowl second for the clash with Leverkusen, West Ham will get home advantage for the second leg.
The Hammers will know exactly what they will have to do back at the London Stadium for that second leg.
And in these two-legged ties the second leg is so often the pivotal one.
You only need to look at the contrast for the last 16 tie with Freiburg – and the one against Sevilla two years back – to see how important that can be.
2) More home advantage for the semi-finals
Clearly West Ham face a tough task to make another semi-final.
But if we do then we will once again play the crucial second leg at home.
The semi-final draw was made pitching us against the winners of AC Milan or Roma.
Not only does that mean West Ham avoid favourites Liverpool until the final – if we dare to dream.
But we will welcome either Milan or Roma to the London Stadium in the crunch second leg of the semi should we make it there.
That could be huge – and you can just imagine the scenes as the Hammers crowd roar the team on to get the result needed.
3) West Ham have already played Bayer Leverkusen this season
The result of West Ham’s pre-season clash with Bayer Leverkusen may not instil much confidence.
The Hammers were played off the park as Alonso’s pass-masters beat them 4-0.
But – and it’s a big but – West Ham had not made any notable signings at that time with the likes of Mohammed Kudus, Edson Alvarez and co joining after what was our final season warm-up game.
So West Ham are a completely different outfit now. And Qarabag showed Leverkusen can be got at defensively – scoring four goals against them over the two legs.
The manager will know all about them from the pre-season meeting. So the Hammers will be better prepared than if they’d been drawn against other teams.
4) The Tim Steidten factor
If Moyes doesn’t know Leverkusen inside out by the time the game rolls around then Hammers technical director Tim Steidten certainly does.
The German recruitment chief was the man who appointed Alonso and helped assemble the team that’s now ripping up the Bundesliga.
Steidten knows the club, squad and manager like the back of his hand.
He will also no doubt be able to glean some inside information for the Hammers ahead of the tie.
That will make Steidten a great resource for Moyes to tap into.
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