There were ugly scenes on the streets of the Spanish city of Seville ahead of West Ham’s Europa League tie on Thursday evening. The Hammers are due to play Sevilla in the Europa League Round of 16 clash, with thousands of fans making the trip to the Andalusian capital from East London. Two sets of fans, reported by Spanish radio station Cadena Cope to be West Ham and Eintracht Frankfurt supporters, clashed on the streets of the city on Wednesday evening.West Ham and Frankfurt fans clash in Sevilla this evening #WHUFC pic.twitter.com/qtCGWI9eL0— Away Day Bible (@AwayDayBible) March 9, 2022 Video footage shows two groups of fans stage a running battle on the street with glass bottles, sticks, bar seats and tables thrown amid the chaos. The incident appears to have taken place outside an Irish bar in the city, in which a large group of fans had been assembled and were drinking during the evening. With all the commotion around Europe and the situation in the world, you could almost forget that there is some football to be played.A promising season for Sevilla could be in danger of petering out but it would be no surprise if they finished with a flourish in the Europa League. Their last 16 tie against West Ham starts at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Thursday, pitting two of the tournament’s favourites against each other in the first round of the knock-out stage.#SGEuropa #WHUFC #Sevilla #SGE Frankfurt attacked a pub with West Ham fans in Seville After heavy bottle bombardmend by the West Ham fans the Lads of FFM took control over the fight and pushed the pub After 4min the police resolved the fight with Rubber bullets on FFM Fans pic.twitter.com/NgrqlvCMcF— Neutral zone (@fanatico_japan) March 10, 2022 But while West Ham have enjoyed an impressive season in the Premier League, where until recently they were challenging for the top four, Sevilla’s Europa League pedigree is unparalleled. They have won the tournament six times, twice as many as anyone else, with four of those successes coming in the last eight years alone. Apart from Barcelona, Sevilla are surely the team to beat.Although Los Nervionense started the campaign in the Champions League, they disappointed, failing even to qualify from a group they could have won, which featured Lille, Salzburg and Wolfsburg. After finishing third in their group, they got the chance to return to their “favourite” Europa League.Brazilian magician Paqueta gives Lyon the advantage over the Dragons, Eintracht upset Betis in SevilleThere are certainly few tougher assignments in the Europa League than a knock-out game at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, where Sevilla’s fans will belt out the club’s anthem and push the players to find another gear.But they won’t have an easy task against a quality West Ham team. Their manager David Moyes relishes the opportunity to test himself and his squad against the La Liga club.”I feel it is where the players should be. The group we have is capable. There are times this season where it does not matter who we play, we will get a win. I see this as a great game for us. Sevilla have a really good history in the competition. It is two legs – we have this one and we are looking forward to the London Stadium next week. You want to play in Europe. It is the elite to challenge yourself against.”UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE – 1/8 FINALSWednesdayReal Betis – Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 (1-2)/Fekit 30 – Kostic 14, Kamada 32/Porto – Lyon 0-1 (0-0)/Paqueta 59/Thursday20.45: (2.15) Sevilla (3.25) West Ham (3.90)23.00: (1.80) Rangers (3.60) Crvena zvezda (5.10)23.00: (3.00) Braga (3.15) Monaco (2.65)23.00: (2.05) Atalanta (3.60) Leverkusen (3.80)23.00: (1.15) Barcelona (9.00) Galatasaray (22.0)***odds are subject to change
