West Ham have been handed an extremely tough draw for the quarter-finals of the Europa League in the shape of Bayer Leverkusen.
What is it about West Ham and German teams?
The Hammers played and lost to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League semi-finals two years ago.
West Ham then had Freiburg in their group in this season’s competition.
And they drew Freiburg again in the last 16. That meant 50 per cent of West Ham’s Europa League games this season have been against Freiburg!
Now the Hammers have been handed another Bundesliga side in the shape of Bayer Leverkusen.
And they don’t come much tougher than Xabi Alonso’s remarkable table toppers.
Bayer Leverkusen are – astonishingly – unbeaten across all competitions this season.
They are on course to win the Bundesliga and are second favourites for the Europa League behind Liverpool.
So that is the size of the task at hand for David Moyes’ side.
It’s a tough draw for West Ham but there’s 4 major plus points after landing Bayer Leverkusen.
1) Big home advantage for Hammers
The two-legged last eight tie will take place on Thursday April 11th and Thursday April 18th.
