West Ham are bidding to win their first major trophy in 43 years and only a second major European title in their entire history when they take on Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday.
A 1-0 victory over Arsenal in the 1980 FA Cup final was West Ham’s last trophy success and you have to go all the way back to 1965 for their one and only European success when Bobby Moore captained them to the Cup Winners’ Cup.
David Moyes’s side have been in imperious form in the competition this season, winning 13 of their 14 matches so far including both legs of their semi-final against AZ Alkmaar, which ended 3-1 on aggregate.
Michail Antonio has played a key role in their success, top-scoring for the side with six goals, while Declan Rice, who has been linked with a move away this summer, has been an influential figure from midfield.
How to watch the Europa Conference League final
Date: Wednesday 7 June
Kick-off time: 8pm [BST]
Venue: Eden Arena, Prague
TV channel: BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate, coverage begins at 6.30pm
Live stream: BT Sport app, btsport.com or the BT Sport YouTube channel
However, they face a tough test at Prague’s Eden Arena against a Fiorentina side that enjoyed a strong second half of the season despite narrowly missing out on a European place by finishing 8th in Serie A.
La Viola have scored 36 goals in this season’s Conference League, more than any other club in any European competition, and have the tournament’s joint-leading scorer Arthur Cabral (seven goals) in their ranks.
Fiorentina also possess former Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic, France international Jonathan Ikone and Argentina winger Nicolas Gonzalez in their attack, while Morocco’s World Cup star Sofyan Amrabat anchors the midfield.
The final will be broadcast on BT Sport and those without a BT subscription will be able to watch it for free on the BT Sport YouTube channel with coverage beginning at 6.30pm.
20,000 West Ham fans expected in Prague
West Ham will certainly be well supported in Prague with as many as 20,000 fans expected to have made the trip from London for the club’s biggest game in decades.
The club’s official ticket allocation for the final is just 5,780, but thousands of ticketless supporters will be in the Czech capital, at the designated fan zone at Letna Park or in bars around the city.
“The only sad thing [about the final] is that there is not going to be more than 6,000 fans getting tickets,” former West Ham playmaker Joe Cole told i. “It should be at a place like Wembley. This game would have filled out Wembley, the Nou Camp, the Bernabeu, anywhere, it really could.”
Many have had to get there via convoluted journeys around Europe after the price of direct flights from London to Prague surged by over 500 per cent following West Ham’s semi-final victory.
The police operation has been ramped up considerably with 10,000 officers from the Czech Republic deployed in Prague and others from the Metropolitan Police and Football Policing Unit providing assistance in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the ugly scenes that marred West Ham’s win over AZ in Alkmaar last month.
Friends and family members of West Ham’s players were attacked by balaclava-clad fans after the final whistle, with AZ admitting that the incident had brought “shame” on the club. AZ have subsequently banned 43 people from their stadium in light of the trouble, while several fans have been handed short-term jail sentences.
Joe Cole: ‘It’s a massive occasion for the club’
Joe Cole is hopeful that his former club can end their long wait to win a trophy and believes that doing so would be a “massive” achievement for Moyes and his squad.
“The fans have always got behind their team, they’ve seen some fabulous days over the years but to win a trophy is very difficult in football,” Cole told i.
“To win a European competition, I know it’s not the premier one but it would be massive for the club.”
It could be Rice’s final appearance in claret and blue as the West Ham captain is expected to leave this summer with Arsenal, Manchester United and Bayern Munich all strongly linked with a move for him.
“He’s at West Ham, he’s 24 years of age, his ability to captain the club to a trophy in Europe – it’s a huge night for the club and his mind will be focused solely on that,” Cole said.
“He’s a wonderful player, wonderful footballer. He’s being courted by every team in Europe I would imagine. He’ll have been discussed by them all, he’s that good.”
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/pAnZHE1
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