As West Ham’s hangover hopes soar before of the second leg, this is the finest Bayer Leverkusen news possible.
West Ham’s season has come to an ugly end with a 2-0 loss to Fulham at home.
Jarrod Bowen, the Hammers’ leading scorer, was injured during the team’s victory over Wolves last week.
He missed the vital first leg of the Europa League quarterfinal at Bayer Leverkusen as a result.
Even though Leverkusen has only let up one goal on the break this season, David Moyes chose to employ an extremely defensive counterattack strategy going into that match without Edson Alvarez.
West Ham lost 2-0 despite, for the most part, a resolute defensive effort.
For the second leg, the Hammers also lost Lucas Paqueta and Emerson Palmieri due to suspension.
In addition, West Ham lost Konstantinos Mavropanos to injury during the match against Fulham.
In the second leg, West Ham has a mountain to climb.
West Ham will have a difficult task at the London Stadium on Thursday night, as there are uncertainties around Bowen’s availability for the second leg as well.
Granit Xhaka of Leverkusen has cautioned his teammates that the match at West Ham will be tough and stated emphatically that the tie is still ongoing.
Practically speaking, a classic hangover was West Ham’s best chance for the second leg.
When West Ham welcomed Fulham to east London for the opening leg, they had one for sure.
And now Moyes and his group will be looking to reap the rewards of a circumstance like this.
As West Ham’s hangover prospects increase, this is the best Bayer Leverkusen news possible.
After winning the title, Hammers’ hopes of a Bayer hangover increase.
The scoreline coming out of Germany this evening might intimidate West Ham.
Because West Ham lost to Fulham, and Xabi Alonso’s team defeated Werder Bremen 5-0 to extend their winning streak to 43 games across all competitions this season.
Wonderful Victor Boniface and Xhaka scored the other goals, leaving Florian Wirtz with a hat-trick.
For the first time in the team’s existence, Leverkusen was proclaimed German champions after that victory.
However, it keeps the hangover, West Ham’s sole chance for the second leg, very much alive.
There’s no denying that Alonso’s team will be celebrating their Bundesliga victory.
As Alonso, his player at the BayArena, celebrated, fans flocked to the field. It would have taken a lot of energy, and West Ham could have been able to close the deficit thanks to the adrenaline rush.
That motivation and attention would have persisted even if Bayer had lost, given that Bowen would have returned and Hammers would have attacked. However, they might now slightly depress the gas pedal.
They will no longer feel under pressure to make sure their fantastic season was recognized with awards.
Now that they have secured the title, West Ham will be hoping to play a side that is still recovering from a hangover and may have lost all motivation and ambition.
It might be clinging to thin air. But that’s the situation that West Ham is in.
We have to cross our fingers that Bowen returns for the Hammers to play.
Then, West Ham MUST be prepared to take advantage if there is even the faintest indication that Leverkusen is even slightly off from their typical game.
