With an historic Bundesliga title already secured, Bayer Leverkusen now set their full focus on pairing it with a European trophy as they travel to meet West Ham looking to secure a spot in the Europa League semifinals.
As a cherry on top to their sensational season, Xabi Alonso remains unbeaten on the year. Leverkusen were the last 'Big Five European League' club to go unbeaten when Bayern Munich suffered defeat all the way back in early December, and they've maintained that record in sensational fashion throughout the second half of this campaign.
Holding a 2-0 aggregate lead over West Ham after a first leg victory at home last week, they simply need to maintain their unbeaten record to advance through to the final four remaining in the competition.
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West Ham seem ripe for the picking, as they have won just three Premier League games in 2024, but they managed to turn around a 1-0 first-leg deficit to another German club Freiburg in the previous knockout round, so Leverkusen will be aware of their ability to flip the matchup on its head.
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Bayer Leverkusen haven't faltered all season, and it's hard to imagine they'll stumble at this stage. Xabi Alonso will play this safe to protect the aggregate lead, and if the unbeaten streak has to end in the process, so be it, but that feels unlikely.
Leverkusen are exceedingly adept at hitting on the counter-attack, so as West Ham work to turn the aggregate scoreline around, they'll leave themselves open at the back. If anyone in Europe can take advantage of that, it's Xabi Alonso's side. Add in that Lucas Paqueta and Emerson are both
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