Xabi Alonso believes the touchline row between West Ham and Bayer Leverkusen coaching staff was linked to the clash from the first leg of their Europa League tie.
West Ham conceded two late goals in Germany last week but got off to a flying start in the second leg on Thursday evening as Michail Antonio scored after 14 minutes.
However, David Moyes’ side were unable to find a second goal and Jeremie Frimpong’s equaliser in the 89th minute sealed a 1-1 draw for Leverkusen and a 3-1 win on aggregate to set up a Europa League semi-final tie against Roma.
The draw at the London Stadium also extended Leverkusen’s unbeaten run to 44 games, which is a new record set by a club in Europe’s top five leagues.
Last week, Moyes branded Leverkusen a ‘disgrace’ for their conduct on the touchline and accused Alonso’s coaching staff of influencing referee Artur Dias in the decision to give Lucas Paqueta a yellow card, which meant he was suspended for the return leg.
Tempers flared between the two benches once again on Thursday evening with West Ham assistant Billy McKinlay and Leverkusen coach Sebastian Parrilla both sent off for their part in a heated touchline altercation.
When asked if the argument on the touchline between the two benches was linked from the row in the first leg, Alonso replied with a smile: ‘I wouldn’t say no.’
Alonso also admits he was ‘worried’ after Leverkusen’s poor start to the second leg in London.
‘Nervous? No, not nervous but I was worried because the team was not playing well, they were not feeling comfortable on the pitch and we were having problems,’ Alonso said.
‘So more than nervous I was trying to think how I could react, how I could make an impact at half time in what things to change because those moments when they were pushing it’s difficult to have that direct impact from the bench.
‘I was more trying to think how we could do better in the second half and what things to change. More worried than nervous.’
Moyes, meanwhile, was unhappy with the officiating from Spanish referee Jose Maria Sanchez.
Asked if he felt the performance was Sanchez was poor, Moyes replied: ‘Yes, I would.
‘I watch a lot of Spanish football and I’ve worked in Spain so I’ve got an idea of what it’s like, if that’s the way it is you wouldn’t be wanting to watch too many Spanish games at the moment.’
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