West Ham are getting ready to take on the might of Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen in Germany on Thursday evening.
As often happens for European away games, fans of the visiting club will gather in bars about town, sinking a few pints before the main event of the evening gets underway.
Leverkusen have been brilliant all season, but they’ve certainly had their fair share of wobbles over the past few weeks.
For example, in both Round of 16 games against outsiders, Qarabag, they were 2-0 down and needed the intervention of Patrik Schick in injury time to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
Coming so close to being invincible will surely be in their minds, though Alonso himself will almost certainly settle for seeing continued improvement in his players. Should a win or draw be the outcome of any game, that’s just an added bonus.
One more win secures them a maiden Bundesliga title, and with it so close that they can grasp it, it’s entirely possible that their focus will remain on the league, giving the Hammers a chance of springing a shock upset.
Regardless of how the East Londoners do in Germany, one fan that’s travelled from England to cheer his team on has ended up in hospital with ‘life threatening injuries.’
A 68-year-old has reportedly been hit by a road sweeper van, per Metro, and was apparently dragged under the brushes suffering significant head injuries.
West Ham fan suffers ‘life changing injuries’
There doesn’t appear to have been any fan violence in Germany which makes a nice change, though this man’s poor family will now have to see what the next few days bring.
Their only hope will be that their dad/brother/son/uncle survives this terrible accident and is back supporting the Irons as soon as possible.