Coach opposing Bayer in the Europa League jokes about ‘hangover’ after German title: ‘I hope they’re drinking’

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West Ham manager David Moyes says he hopes Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga title celebrations lead to a “hangover” for the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday. Leverkusen’s 5-0 victory over Werder Bremen on Sunday secured the club’s first German title, breaking Bayern Munich’s 11-year dominance in the country.

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Having finally buried the unwanted nickname “Neverkusen”, a joke that haunted the club for decades, Bayer heads to London looking to get closer to another trophy. Immediately after the 43rd consecutive match without defeat, Leverkusen coach, Xabi Alonso, continues to encourage his team in another dispute.

The team is in the final of the German Cup, against Kaiserslautern, a second division club, in a game that will be played on May 25th, and they face West Ham, in England, with a 2-0 lead achieved in the game of departure, in Germany.

Bayer Leverkusen is German champion for the first time in its history

Team won the competition five rounds in advance

Aware of Leverkusen’s quality, Moyes joked about encouraging Bayer’s players to spend “one or two nights” celebrating the title, which would be the best thing for West Ham’s hopes of a comeback in the second leg.

“Rightly so, why wouldn’t you celebrate?” Moyes told reporters on Wednesday. “To be champion, you must celebrate, you must enjoy because moments pass very quickly. I hope they’re drinking those giant glasses of beer they get in Germany!”

But Alonso brought “bad news” for Moyes as the Spaniard made it clear his team would put aside their title celebrations to focus on European competition. Asked if his players had celebrated after last weekend’s triumph, Alonso said:

“Some of them, probably. But not many. We had control. It was definitely a moment to take advantage of. On Sunday we knew we had a chance, so we took a day, if we won, to take advantage. But since Tuesday our mind has been focused at West Ham. Now it’s the Europa League, and we have a great chance to have an even better season,” said Xabi. “The commitment and the way we train give me reason to believe we will play well tomorrow.”

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West Ham have impressive records under Moyes, having won the Europa Conference League last season and reached the Europa League semi-finals in 2022.

Alonso knows that the Hammers cannot be underestimated, despite Leverkusen’s advantage in the first leg.

“We have big challenges ahead. West Ham have good players, they have a recent ranking after beating Freiburg. We need to perform at our best,” said Alonso. “I don’t have the feeling that our mentality will be any different from the one that gave us the opportunity to reach the semi-finals.”