On the eve of the match of the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League West Ham-OL, which will take place this Thursday evening (9 p.m. French time) at the London Stadium in front of more than 60,000 people, the Hammers showed excitement but also caution before receiving the Lyonnais on their lawn. Where they have only recorded victories in the last four home meetings.
England defender Aaron Cresswell, a defensive mainstay at Moyes and at West Ham since 2008, said he “didn’t want to get carried away” after favorites Sevilla were knocked out in the previous round and his side qualified for the Europa League quarter-finals , for the first time in club history.
Aaron Cresswell: “We have earned the right to be there with our performances in the Premier League”
“It’s huge, we have a small but very good team, united and united, which can allow us to hope for a semi-final against Barcelona. Few players on the team have gone this far in the competition. It’s certainly the biggest game of my career and that of the majority of my teammates, but we don’t want to get carried away. We are ready to go. We won the right to be there with our performances in the Premier League (West Ham are 6th in the standings 7 days from the end of the championship) but once again, we must not get carried away, even if the atmosphere will be phenomenal. There is a home and away game so we will have to do everything to put ourselves in a good position for our trip to Lyon, ”said the 32-year-old Briton, who therefore spent 14 at West Ham and experienced the change of stadium. 5-6 years ago. “For two years, our stadium has become a fortress for visiting teams.”
David Moyes: “It’s new for us to play at such a European level”
For his part, the Scottish coach of the Hammers, David Moyes, hopes to continue “the good series” of his team, in the championship, as in the Europa League.
“We have a very big match waiting for us tomorrow, we will continue to move forward. We are very excited. We didn’t necessarily expect to complete this course this year so let’s hope it lasts. It’s new for many players in the team to play at such a European level. The punters may give us favorites but Lyon have more experience than us so we remain cautious. We must not forget that they were in the semi-finals of the Champions League two years ago, and that they had beaten Juventus… These quarter-finals are something new for us, ”hammered the former Manchester United coach (2013-14), who hopes that the English public will once again push his men, as he was able to do when receiving Sevilla in the round of 16.