A matter of months ago Xabi Alonso was being linked with West Ham now his Bayer Leverkusen side will face them in Europe.
After thumping Freiburg 5-1 on aggregate West Ham have been handed another German side in the last eight.
And they don’t come much tougher than Xabi Alonso’s remarkable table toppers Bayer Leverkusen.
The Bundesliga leaders are – astonishingly – unbeaten across all competitions this season.
West Ham’s Europa League quarter-final opponents are on course to win the German title.
Bayer Leverkusen have been second favourites for the Europa League behind Liverpool.
So that is the size of the task at hand for David Moyes’ side.
The manager bullishly stated ahead of the draw that ‘teams won’t want to play us either’.
West Ham have actually played Bayer Leverkusen in pre-season, losing 4-0.
So how does their manager feel about the prospect of facing the Hammers?
Alonso has reacted to Bayer Leverkusen drawing West Ham in the Europa League quarter-finals.
Speaking in a press conference after the draw, Alonso says he is excited by the tie.
But he has warned West Ham have dangerous players.
“Every team would have been tough,” Alonso said, as reported by the club’s media team.
“We know West Ham were successful in the Conference League last season.
“They have top players and we are excited for the quarter-finals against a good team.”
The Hammers were played off the park as Alonso’s pass-masters beat them 4-0.
But – and it’s a big but – West Ham had not made any notable signings at that time with the likes of Mohammed Kudus, Edson Alvarez and co joining after what was our final season warm-up game.
So West Ham are a completely different outfit now. And Qarabag showed Leverkusen can be got at defensively – scoring four goals against them over the two legs.
Plus, someone has got to bring Leverkusen’s unbeaten run to an end haven’t they?
If Qarabag nearly managed it then why not West Ham?