Jarrod Bowen shares his preferred West Ham Europa League opponents
Jarrod Bowen admits he would love a trip to the Camp Nou for West Ham to face Barcelona in the next round of the Europa League.
The Hammers have the luxury of sitting back and watching the current Round-of-32 having won their group, while the La Liga giants are mid-way through their tie with Napoli after drawing 1-1 in Spain last night (Thursday 17 February).
David Moyes’ side have shone in Europe this season, losing only once and finishing the group stage with a positive goal difference of eight, and Bowen is feeling positive about the club’s position.
The former Hull City winger was quoted by 90min as saying: “I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about [visiting the Camp Nou], and it’s a great position to be in.
“Our main goal in the group stage was just qualifying, it was all a very new experience for a lot of the players who hadn’t been involved in Europe before, but to do it by topping the group and going straight into the round of 16 was fantastic.
“It’s a long way into the competition, we’re only a few games away from the big prize final. We’ve got to see who we get, but Barcelona would obviously be lovely for us.”
Why not?
It hasn’t been often that the Irons could be sitting pretty and welcoming the challenge of the Catalan club.
The contrasting fortunes of the two clubs over the last couple of seasons not only make a meeting possible but mean West Ham should back themselves to have a decent chance of triumphing.
Moyes has brought about somewhat of a revolution at the London Stadium since he returned to the club on a permanent basis.
Despite the unease over the club’s inability to strengthen the squad during the January transfer window, the overall standing of the season is excellent, with the team comfortably qualified in Europe and still fifth in the Premier League.
Barcelona are rebuilding under Xavi but are a shadow of the Lionel Messi-lead behemoth that swept all before them at times over the past 15 years.
There is no guarantee that they will even be in the draw for the next round, as they face a trip to Naples first after an underwhelming first leg.
And with one of the tournament favourites Borussia Dortmund being shocked 4-2 at home by Rangers last night, the competition looks wide open.
In other West Ham news, the club are reportedly set to replace a key performer from this season in the summer.