Vladimír Coufal joked he will do his best to provide his teammates with intel about Bayer Leverkusen’s strong Czech contingent ahead of West Ham United’s trip to Germany in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday.
The Hammers return to the continent looking to progress to the last four of the competition for the second time in three years, and continue building on last season’s UEFA Europa Conference League triumph in Prague.
One member of the Claret and Blue Army who was key to that success in his home country was indeed full-back Coufal, who is looking forward to lining up against some familiar names at the BayArena.
While Adam Hložek is an injury concern for the upcoming hosts, Coufal’s compatriots Patrik Schick and Matěj Kovář could be in line to feature for Xabi Alonso’s men, who are so-far unbeaten in 41 outings during 2023/24.
“They have a lot of strong players in their team, and it’s not going to be an easy match,” said Coufal, who played professionally for FC Hlučín, SFC Opava, Slovan Liberec and Slavia Prague in his home country, and has won 40 caps for the Czech national side.
“We’re going to do everything we can to stop them, and I’m going to give the lads some insight to help them!
“Patrik Schick is a tremendous striker, and he was their hero in the last round. Adam Hložek has shown he can score from nothing, and I’ve had some banter with Matěj Kovář through text.
“If we weren’t in the competition anymore I’d probably be cheering them on to win the whole thing, but we have a job to do and we’re confident we can stop them.
“They’re favourites to win the Bundesliga and the German Cup, but hopefully we can make sure that two trophies is all they’re going to get this season.”
With another fellow countryman closer to home, and a range of other standout individuals alongside him in the West Ham set-up, Coufal is hopeful of helping secure a similar outcome to the last time David Moyes’ men went up against German opposition, in the round of 16.
He said: “I’m very good friends with Tomáš Souček, and in the four years or so we’ve played together at West Ham I don’t think we’ve ever really had a problem.
“He’s a great player as well, and together we helped overcome defeat in the first leg against SC Freiburg and win 5-0 back at London Stadium, which was an incredible night.
“Mohammed Kudus was amazing that night. I couldn’t believe my eyes when he scored his first goal, with such an amazing run. It was like when you play on the PlayStation or Xbox.
“That was the latest of many great memories in Europe over the past few years. Winning the Europa Conference League last season, especially in Prague, was indescribable, and we want to keep those kinds of experiences coming.”
While the Irons look to keep going in Europe, this season has also seen a marked improvement in the Premier League, with Saturday’s win at Wolverhampton Wanderers taking them eight points above their 2022/23 total, with six games still to play.
Coufal has notched seven assists in 39 appearances in all competitions this term, and with the team's destiny largely in their own hands on all fronts he is suitably excited about the run-in to the summer break.
The 31-year-old added: “We have had a bit of a problem with consistency, but I think in the last few weeks we have found a playing style we would like to maintain, and we have a lot of belief about what we can achieve.
“I have chipped in with some assists, which is always nice. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to score for West Ham yet, but I can sense that goal coming.
“Hopefully I can score by the end of the season, and help fire the team to some more success!”
