Poor Draw? Yes, but Leverkusen won’t be happy either

Leverkusen won’t be happy to draw West Ham

Okay, let’s be honest here, Leverkusen and Liverpool were the teams to avoid in the Europa League quarter-finals. Xabi Alonso’s team has been thrilling everyone this season, and their manager and players are hot property.

It’s difficult to make a case that West Ham will go through to the semi-finals, but I’m going to try anyway. Of course, Leverkusen are going to be favourites, and the eyes of Europe will be upon them. I think there is a fascination about how easily they have toppled the seemingly unbeatable Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga this season.

However, there will be an expectancy upon Leverkusen for this game, and I doubt they would have been thrilled with the draw. Because from the outside looking in, West Ham can be a pain in the backside to play against, and we have decent European pedigree too.

Leverkusen play Freiburg tomorrow, and our dismantling of their countrymen would not have gone unnoticed. The corresponding fixture earlier this season was 2-1 to Alonso’s men, and West Ham’s 5-0 win is impressive by any metric.

If Moyes plays his newly revised attacking quartet, it will provide problems for any defence. Paqueta, Antonio, Kudus, and Bowen all have differing attributes that require attention. However, if Leverkusen double up on any one of them, it will leave space.

Secret agent Steidten

Then there is Tim Steidten. West Ham’s director of football is the ultimate Bayer Leverkusen scout. Having been at the club until joining the Hammers, he will know everything about them. He’ll have played his part in recruiting many of the players, so David Moyes has a huge depth of knowledge at his disposal.

It’s not the tie that most were looking for, but Leverkusen will not be too happy about this either. It’s natural to assume confidence and competence in such impressive opposition. But West Ham do have a fair chance of reaching the semi-final AGAIN!