BAYER LEVERKUSEN
UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg, BayArena, Thursday 11 April 2024, 9pm CEST (8pm BST)
West Ham United make a second visit of the season to the BayArena this week.
The first, back in early August last year, ended in 0-4 pre-season defeat by Bayer Leverkusen, albeit unforeseen travel issues meant the Hammers’ squad had to fly to Germany on the morning of the game.
Since then, the German side have been on an absolute tear. Under the leadership of head coach Xabi Alonso, Leverkusen have stormed to the top of the Bundesliga and look certain to be crowned champions for the first time, are through to the German Cup final and to the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals.
For a club which has become associated with finishing second, there is a very real possibility that Leverkusen could complete an historic treble.
When you consider Alonso is managing at the highest level for the first time in his fledgling coaching career, Leverkusen’s rise to prominence has been hugely impressive, and it will take a superb all-round performance from West Ham to knock them out.
That said, the Irons have already won in Germany once this campaign, 2-1 at SC Freiburg in October, and certainly have the quality to do so again.
How to get there…
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 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.
Where to stay…
There are endless options, as Leverkusen is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, one of Europe's largest urban areas.
Aside from Leverkusen itself, the Rhine-Ruhr also includes the cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Bergisch and Wuppertal, all of which are within one hour’s travel time of the BayArena.
In short, then, you are not struggling for hotel, hostel or other accommodation options!
What to do…
In all likelihood, you will be staying in either Cologne or Düsseldorf, so we’ll concentrate on those two cities, rather than Leverkusen itself.
In Cologne, the huge Gothic Cathedral (Dom) is the number one attraction, while there are 12 other Romanesque churches, the City Hall (Rathaus) and city gates worth visiting, if medieval architecture is your thing. The River Rhine runs through the centre of the city, too, and you can cross it by the Cable Car (Seilbahn).
Situated 20 miles up the Rhine to the north, Düsseldorf also has an Old Town (Altstadt) worth a visit. Aside from its historic buildings, with over 250 pubs, restaurants and bars, it is known as ‘The Longest Bar in the World’.
What’s happened there before…
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.
Prior to that, though, the Hammers had 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 1-3 at West German Cup holders Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals. Ten years later, in 1976, the Hammers lost 1-2 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 traveled twice to SC Freiburg in this season’s competition, winning 2-0 in the group stage before losing 1-0 in their round of 16 first-leg tie, then 5-0 at home to set up this visit to Leverkusen.
