Lyon boss Vincent Ponsot shares view on West Ham Europa League draw
Lyon boss Vincent Ponsot has claimed “it’s hard to do worse” after drawing West Ham in the Europa League semi-final.
The Hammers overcame a 1-0 deficit against the most successful team in the competition’s history in Sevilla last night (March 17) with a historic 2-0 win at the London Stadium.
David Moyes’ side host the Ligue 1 side on April 7 with the return leg in France a week later (April 14) and Ponsot believes his team will have to be at their best.
“It’s a big piece,” he told RMC Sport.
“Sixth in the Premier League this year and sixth last year, two points off Chelsea. Big team and big draw, because beyond that there’s the winner of Eintracht Frankfurt-Barcelona.
“It’s a tough competition, you can see it with all the teams from the Champions League that have been knocked out in the Europa League.
“We knew we’d have big opponents. It’s true that with the current potential draw with West Ham and then potentially Barcelona in the semis, who will need to beat Frankfurt, it’s hard to do worse. We’ll gallantly play our bit.”
Favourites?
It is nice that West Ham are being feared, rather than them fearing the opposition. And rightly so, the Hammers have been one of the standout teams of the tournament so far but there is a lot of football to play.
Moyes certainly won’t, but more importantly, the players can’t afford to get carried away with the success they have enjoyed so far this season.
Yes, they have made history and given the fans the season of a lifetime but none of that will mean anything if it ends bleakly. They have to try and win the Europa League now it is within reach because who knows the next time the Irons will find themselves in this position.
They will want to build on their success next season but there is no guarantee the draw will fall so nicely and even if it does, anything can happen in cup football.
There are a few hurdles left and if the Hammers can breeze past them, this will be the biggest season in their history.
In other West Ham news, David Gold shares reaction to the Hammers’ Europa League heroics.
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