Key events
Where is the game? I can’t lie, if I was a West Ham fan I’d have wanted the Moyesiah to be a little more bullish rather than extol the quality of their opponents. But they’re a live dog here, and will be looking to Cresswell and Ward-Prowse to deliver quality into the box, with Bowen and Kudus seeking the spaces between the Leverkusen centre-backs and full-backs. I daresay Moyes will also wants Soucek running off Xhaka, but if Leverkusen dominate possession this all becomes much harder. So I’d expect the Irons to try and play their way into the game – I’m no sure about that, as I wonder if their best hope is to get after it early – then commit more men forward as things develop.
I just saw someone in the crowd wearing the West Ham Dagenham Motors kit from the 90s. My school didn’t do sport properly – inner London comp, nae grounds – but we played one game, and somehow, our teacher turned up with 11 West Ham Dagenham Motors kits. You can imagine how that went down. I’m afraid the film right to this epic tale have already been optioned.
David Moyes tells TNT that it’s a big task but West Ham will approach it in the right way. They won’t open up immediately – ha, who thought they would? – but will want to put more pressure on “a really supreme opponent” than they did last week.
Otherwise, Mavrapanos has an injury to the sole of his foot but he hopes Bowen can make a difference and notes that this is his side’s third quarter in three years and they won the first two.
Matthew Matty Cash has equalised for Villa in Lille; it’s 3-3 on aggregate so they’re playing extra time.
All that, 20 minutes before the teams come out? That is one confident manager.
Asked about Florian Wirtz, he rhapsodises “a special player”, saying they need to get him on the ball in the right positions. He makes runs that can’t be taught, in the pocket and between the lines, is really good at making the right pass at the right moment, to the millimetre, and they’ve been pushing him this season to crave more goals.
More Alonso: against a low block – which they faced against West Ham last week – the centre-backs are important and their rest defence needs to be good so they can counter-press effectively. They don’t want to face many transitions, but they’ve had enough time during the year to work on that kind of thing and now it’s an automatism.
Alonso speaks! Sunday, when they won the league for the first time ever, was “very special” but from Tuesday they focused on what’s a big task tonight. West Ham are a “very intense team”, Bowen is back, and they hammered Freiburg. But the plan isn’t to nurse the lead, rather to play football and try and win the game.
Asked specifically about Bowen, he compliments his energy and quality, saying he’s “one of the top players”, then asked about his style, he says it’s mainly down to having good players. it’s not really about the tactics, rather about the principles – they can switch formations and they’re not a soft team.
I wonder why Alonso has made those changes. Frimpong certainly seemed to celebrate well the other day but I imagine the rotation is because he’s got the Cup, Europe and the unbeaten record to defend so, with a 2-0 lead, this is a decent time to make changes – especially given the quality of his squad. On which point, I’m really looking forward to seeing who arrives in the summer, because one big sale plus Champions League money equals decent scope in the market.
The return of Jarrod Bowen is a massive boon for West Ham. Obviously he scores goals, but more than that, he’s stepped up a level this season – this isn’t a run of form º and his teammates know they can rely on him.
Elsewhere: in the Conference, Lille lead Villa 2-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate with 10 minutes to go.
Leverkusen, meanwhile, make changes from the first leg too. Out go Edmund Tapsoba, Jeremie Frimpong and Amine Adli, with Piero Hincapié, Odilon Kossounou and Nathan Tella coming on. They too change from 3-4-2-1 to 4-2-3-1.
West Ham are without Lucas Paquetá, who’s suspended – that’s a massive miss – but his replacement is Edson Álvarez, who was suspended for the first leg. Otherwise, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Emerson drop out, with Nayef Aguerd and Jarrod Bowen coming in. As a consequence, there’s also a formation-change, from 3-4-2-1 to 4-2-3-1 or, as Uefa have it, 4-3-3.
I’ll write those down, then we’ll wonder what they might mena.
Teams!
West Ham United (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell; Ward-Prowse, Alvarez; Kudus, Soucek, Bowen; Antonio. Subs: Anang, Knightbridge, Johnson, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Casey, Mubama, Swyer, Orford.
Bayer Leverkusen (4-2-3-1): Kovar; Stanisic, Tah, Kossounou, Hincapie; Xhaka, Palacios; Tella, Wirtz, Grimaldo; Schick. Subs: Hradecky, Lomb, Hofmann, Andrich, Tapsoba, Arthur, Adli, Boniface, Frimpong, Puerta, Izekor.
Also for you…
Preamble
Bundesliga champions, DFB-Pokal finalists and an overall record of Played 43 Won 38 Drawn 5 Lost 0; somehow, Xabi Alonso has magicked Neverkusen into Everkusen and his squad stand on the cusp of one of football’s all-time great seasons.
In a sense they’ve already started next term too, retaining the services of their manager despite stiff competition for them. So, with that decided and the pressure of a title race converted into ecstatic relief, they arrive in London looking and feeling impregnable.
Not so fast. While it’s true that Victor Boniface’s injury-time goal which turned 1-0 into 2-0 seemed like the decisive moment of this tie, West Ham have won every European home game across the last two seasons and, like almost every Premier League side, have the artillery to hurt any opponent – if they can get enough of the ball.
Which is a big “if”, granted, but Leverkusen will only progress if they’re able to contain Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio and Mohammed Kudus – while dealing with West Ham’s threat at set-pieces, and that too is a not insubstantial “if”. Chances are they find a way because that’s what they do, but if they’re still celebrating their weekend triumph and even if they’re not, tonight will be a serious challenge.
Kick-off: 8pm BST
