West Ham United v Bayer Leverkusen
UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg, London Stadium, Thursday 18 April 2024, 8pm BST

In our quarterfinal UEFA Europa League match, West Ham United will take on Bayer Leverkusen, the recent winners of the German Bundesliga, at London Stadium in an attempt to overcome a two-goal deficit.

Last Thursday, the Irons lost the first leg 2-0 at BayArena as Leverkusen scored two goals late in the game from substitutes Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface.

From the start of the match, David Moyes’ team adhered to a well-structured strategy, and even though Łukasz Fabiański had to make many crucial saves, Mohammed Kudus had a golden opportunity to take the lead but missed it.

Under the lights of the capital, everything is still up for grabs. The Hammers are hoping that history repeats itself after overcoming Sevilla in a similar situation two years prior.and in the previous round of this season’s competition against SC Freiburg.

Tickets…

Tickets for this sold-out game are still available on the Ticket Exchange, with Season Ticket Holders who cannot attend this fixture relisting their seats for other supporters to buy.

Click HERE to check availability or relist.

Travel…

There is no planned disruption to TfL Underground services on the Central, Jubilee and Docklands Light Railway lines, though there are set to be issues on Elizabeth line and Overground services. Supporters using these lines are highly recommended to check their routes before departure.

Similarly, there are various disruptions to the c2c and Greater Anglia mainline services, as well as the Southeastern network that serves Stratford International.

Stratford and Stratford City Bus Stations are located in close proximity to Stratford station. Buses that run to these stations are numbers: 25, 86, 97, 104, 108, 158, 241, 257, 262, 276, 308, 425, 473, D8.

Supporters using public transport are advised to check their journeys before they travel, using resources such as TfL’s Journey Planner and the TfL Go app. Supporters may also wish to visit the National Rail website if travelling on the rail network.

There is no parking available at London Stadium. Restrictions will be in place and enforced in the local area.

How To Follow…

Thursday’s match will be broadcast live in the UK by TNT Sports. The list of international broadcast partners for the UEFA Europa League can be found HERE.

You can follow the action on whufc.com and our official mobile app with a live blog, audio commentary, in-running stats and more in our Match Centre, while updates will also be available on our social media channels.

Radio wise, you can catch the game in the UK on talkSPORT2 and BBC Radio London, while you can listen in worldwide on whufc.com and our official mobile app.

Official Programme…

At 116 pages, and just £4 per issue, West Ham United’s 2023/24 Official Programme represents superb value for money for supporters wanting exclusive interviews, attention-grabbing opinions and eye-catching photographs, plus the regular news, columns, statistics and insightful content from across all areas of the Club.

Thursday’s issue includes an in-depth interview and analysis of our regular Europa League midfielder Tomáš Souček, a feature with goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański, and a chat with Bundesliga journalist Raphael Honigstein.

With Academy content focusing on youngster Josh Briggs, who recently penned a first professional contract with the Club, the latest from our women’s team, plus history, puzzles, statistics, and the lowdown on our opponents from BayArena, the Official Programme is packed full of content for you!

Team News…

Attacker Jarrod Bowen and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola will be assessed, as will midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who missed the games against Leverkusen and Fulham.

George Earthy and Dinos Mavropanos were both withdrawn through injury last time out against the Cottagers.

Brazilian duo Lucas Paquetá and Emerson will be absent for the Hammers through suspension, after picking up three yellow cards apiece in the UEFA Europa League this term.

Xabi Alonso was without forward Adam Hložek during their 5-0 title-winning victory over SV Werder Bremen on Sunday.

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 43 of their games ahead of this quarter-final second-leg clash against the Hammers, including a 2-0 win in the first leg at BayArena last Thursday.

When West Ham travelled to Leverkusen last week, Die Werkself were just one win away from a first-ever Bundesliga title in their 120-year history. They completed the job in emphatic style with a 5-0 victory over SV Werder Bremen on Sunday, while they are also through to next month’s German Cup final, where they are overwhelming favourites to defeat second division side FC Kaiserslautern.

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 18 goals from his 27 outings, while defender Alejandro Grimaldo has featured the most often, and netted an impressive eleven times in 42 games.

Previous Meetings…

West Ham United have visited Bayer Leverkusen just twice previously, first of all for a pre-season match on 5 August 2023, that proved instantly forgettable as the hosts ran out 4-0 winners. Then, the Hammers suffered a late defeat at BayArena in the reverse fixture last week.

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 quarter-final with Leverkusen.

Match Officials…

Referee: José María Sánchez (ESP)
Assistant Referees: Raúl Cabañero (ESP) and Iñigo Prieto (ESP)
Fourth Official: Cesar Soto Grado (ESP)
VAR: Carlos del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Assistant VAR: Ricardo de Burgos (ESP)

The match officials for Thursday evening’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final second-leg tie at home to Bayer Leverkusen have been confirmed.

A full Spanish contingent will be led by José María Sánchez, who has been a FIFA listed referee since 2017.

The 40-year-old, who is originally from Lorca, Murcia, began officiating at the turn of the 21st century, and took charge of his first game in the Spanish top flight in August 2015 – a 0–0 draw between Real Sociedad and Sporting Gijón.

Since then, he has held the whistle during more than 350 fixtures in a variety of competitions, including the 2022/23 Copa del Rey final, that saw Real Madrid overcome Osasuna 2-1 in Seville.

He has never refereed a West Ham United match before, but he has the man in the middle at European games involving Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion this season.

He has taken charge of 27 fixtures throughout 2023/24 so far, including 16 in La Liga, four in the UEFA Champions League and two in the UEFA Europa League.

For more information about the officials, click HERE.