Bayer Leverkusen v West Ham United
UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg, BayArena, Thursday 11 April 2024, 9pm CEST (8pm BST)
Little under a month since West Ham United’s thumping 5-0 win over SC Freiburg at London Stadium, the UEFA Europa League is back, with another dose of German opposition standing in the Hammers’ way of a spot in the semi-finals.
David Moyes’ men responded impressively to the narrow 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their round of 16 tie against Freiburg, with Mohammed Kudus’ brace, after earlier goals from Lucas Paquetá, Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Cresswell, earning the Club passage to a third successive continental quarter-final.
The experience of previous European success, as well as Saturday’s Premier League win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, will have served as a confidence boost ahead of the first running of this clash, but West Ham will be under no illusion about the challenge promised by one of the most in-form teams in world football.
Former Liverpool star Xabi Alonso has overseen an unbeaten campaign as Leverkusen boss so far this season, and they remain in the hunt for three trophies at home and abroad, so the Irons will need to perform at their peak to progress further in the competition.
Tickets…
West Ham fans are advised that the Club’s initial allocation of 1,790 tickets for this fixture sold out to Boldholders, and Away Scheme Members and Season Ticket Holders with 51+ Loyalty Points.
Our additional allocation of 350 tickets then sold out to Bondholders, and Away Scheme Members and Season Ticket Holders with 45+ Points.
Travel…
There are two airports within close proximity to the city of Leverkusen, which itself has a population of over 160,000, at Cologne/Bonn and Düsseldorf.
British Airways, Eurowings and Ryanair all fly direct from London to Cologne/Bonn, which is just a 25-minute drive from the BayArena.
If you are staying in the city of Cologne, you can take the RB48 train from the Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) to Leverkusen-Manforf, then the 222 bus to the BayArena. The total journey should take no longer than 30 minutes.
After the game, you will need to walk to either Leverkusen Mitte (18 minutes) and take the RE1 Regional Express train or S6 Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn service, or walk to Leverkusen-Manforf (21 minutes) and take the RB48 Regional train, all of which stop at Cologne Central Station.
Eurowings also fly direct from London Heathrow to Düsseldorf, which is just over 30 minutes away from the stadium.
If you are staying in Düsseldorf, take the S6 S-Bahn from the Central Station to Leverkusen Mitte, then walk to the stadium, and do the same journey in reverse after the game.
How To Follow…
Thursday’s tie will be broadcast live in the UK by TNT Sports. The list of international broadcast partners for the UEFA Europa League can be found by clicking HERE.
Alternatively, you can follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app, and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle on our website and social media.
Live audio commentary will be available in the UK on talkSPORT 2, and worldwide on our official website and app and BBC Radio London.
Team News…
Midfielder Edson Álvarez will miss the trip to Germany through suspension, having picked up his third yellow card in this season’s UEFA Europa League campaign against SC Freiburg last time out.
Attacker Jarrod Bowen will be assessed after being withdrawn in the early stages of the second half against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the weekend, as will goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, who has missed the last two games with a groin problem.
Adam Hložek and Nathan Tella are both doubts for Bayer Leverkusen, after being forced off with injuries during their 1-0 win at Union Berlin in the league on Saturday.
Opposition…
For Bayer Leverkusen fans, it is not a happy thought to consider what might have been had Xabi Alonso not taken charge.
Appointed as manager in October 2022, the iconic former Spain midfielder stepped into his maiden senior coaching job with his new employer second from bottom of the Bundesliga table after eight matches.
By the end of the season, Leverkusen were sixth, earning qualification for the UEFA Europa League again, and were in the competition’s semi-final stage where only a single goal saw them eliminated by José Mourinho’s AS Roma.
While those endeavours might have turned some heads in the football world, few could surely have predicted the dominance that Alonso has spearheaded on all fronts this term.
Having put his stamp on the squad, bringing in the likes of midfielder Granit Xhaka, striker Victor Boniface and winger Jonas Hofmann in the summer, Alonso set the tone for what was to come with a thumping win over West Ham in pre-season.
Since then, they have proved unstoppable, without defeat in all 41 of their games ahead of this quarter-final clash against the Hammers, and having drawn on only five occasions.
As things stand, Leverkusen are 16 points clear of Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga and are on course to be crowned champions for the first time, while they are also through to next month’s German Cup final.
Though they breezed through their UEFA Europa League group with six wins from six, their passage to the last eight did appear in doubt as they trailed Qarabag on aggregate in the dying embers of the teams’ round of 16 second-leg clash, following a 2-2 draw in Azerbaijan a week earlier.
But, as great teams so often do, they found a way to get the job done, with two Patrik Schick stoppage-time strikes turning the tie on its head and securing a narrow 5-4 aggregate triumph.
The aforementioned Boniface is Leverkusen’s top scorer this season with 16 goals from his 25 outings, while defender Alejandro Grimaldo has featured the most often, and netted an impressive eleven times in 40 games.
Previous Meetings…
West Ham United have visited Bayer Leverkusen just once previously, on 5 August 2023, and the pre-season match proved instantly forgettable as the hosts ran out 4-0 winners.
Aside from that, though, the Hammers have travelled to what is now a unified Germany six times in UEFA competitions - more than any other country.
The first two came in 1966, when Ron Greenwood’s side drew 1-1 at East German Cup holders 1. FC Magdeburg in the European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finals, before losing 3-1 at West German Cup holders Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals.
Ten years later, in 1976, the Hammers lost 2-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt at the same stage of the same competition, but recovered to win 3-1 at home to go through.
Eintracht won on home turf again in the UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg in 2022, before West Ham travelled twice to SC Freiburg in this season’s competition, winning 2-1 in the group stage before losing 1-0 in their round of 16 first-leg tie, then triumphing 5-0 at home to set up this visit to Leverkusen.
Match Officials…
Referee: Artur Dias (POR)
Assistant Referees: Paulo Soares (POR) and Pedro Ribeiro (POR)
Fourth Official: António Nobre (POR)
VAR: Tiago Martins (POR)
Assistant VAR: Hugo Miguel (POR)
A full Portuguese contingent will be led by Artur Dias, who has been a listed international referee for FIFA and UEFA since 2010.
The 44-year-old, who was born in Porto and resides in Vila Nova de Gaia, began his career as a whistler in 2004/05, and has since taken charge of close to 700 games at both domestic and international levels.
Portugal’s youngest ever FIFA referee, Dias has refereed two Taça de Portugal finals - won by Braga in 2015/16 and FC Porto in 2019/20 - at UEFA Euro 2020, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and over 20 times in the UEFA Champions League.
He has been the man in the middle during one West Ham United game before, when the Hammers drew 1-1 away at Astra Giurgiu in the first leg of the Europa League Play-Off round in August 2016.
More recently, he refereed England’s 1-0 home defeat to Lucas Paquetá’s Brazil last month - the seventh time he has overseen a game involving the Three Lions.
For more information about the officials, click HERE.
