After losing their first-leg matches, Bayer Leverkusen and West Ham both need to win on Thursday in order to advance to the Europa League quarterfinals.
Last week in Baku, Leverkusen’s blushes were spared and their unblemished record was preserved thanks to a stoppage-time equalizer by Patrik Schick. Prior to that, Qarabag had taken an unexpected 2-0 lead over the dominant Bundesliga leaders.
It’s possible that we are luckier than Qarabag in the outcome. Huge respect, they may have deserved a better outcome,” Leverkusen’s head coach Xabi Alonso declared following the first game.
Despite the unexpected 2-2 draw, Leverkusen didn’t appear to be slowing down in their quest for trophies over the weekend as they quickly recovered to defeat Wolfsburg at home in the league.
With 31 wins and five draws in all competitions so far this season, the best team in Europe has become the first Bundesliga team to go 36 games without losing.
As the search for Leverkusen’s first silverware in over 30 years reaches the business end of the season, Alonso and his charges will not want this momentum to stop abruptly at match 37 against the Azerbaijani champions.
However, after going toe-to-toe with the Germans for 91 minutes last week, Qarabag will arrive at the BayArena believing that anything is possible.
Alonso said the Baku club “have quality players who are capable of playing in the top leagues” and they will be keen to continue to showcase their talents on the European stage.
Qarabag coach Gurban Gurbanov is confident his team can step up and perform at an even higher level than in the first leg: “I’ll prepare the team to play even better in Germany.”
Liverpool, the other tournament favorites along with Leverkusen, should have an easier time at Anfield on Thursday after defeating Sparta Prague 5-1 the previous week.
Mohamed Salah’s return gave Liverpool hope in the first leg, but with the match almost decided, manager Jurgen Klopp is probably going to give the younger players more playing time.
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