West Ham fans were left devastated last night when their 2023/24 European journey came to an end at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen. The second leg at the London Stadium finished 1-1 which meant Xabi Alonso's men progressed through to the semi-finals with their season-long undefeated streak still intact.
The atmosphere throughout the night at the London Stadium was electric with West Ham fans doing all they could to push their team towards an equaliser after Michail Antonio gave them an early route back into the match after they lost the first leg 2-0 in Germany.
/https%3A%2F%2Ffootballgroundguide.com%2Fapp%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F04%2FWest-Ham-fans-slam-Leverkusen-away-end.jpg "West Ham fans left unimpressed with Leverkusen away end 1")
The Leverkusen away fans also played their part in creating a memorable atmosphere at the former Olympic Stadium in London with the 3,000 traveling contingent making a racket from the first minute. They were clearly still in high spirits after seeing their team win the Bundesliga for the first time at the weekend and were continuing the celebrations in the English capital.
One particular moment, which didn't go down well with the home fans, happened early on when the Leverkusen fans all started bouncing up and down in unison while singing. While to the naked eye, their actions looked impressive, West Ham fans clearly felt it was anything but as the fans either side of the away end joined in with a chant of ‘What the f*cking hell is that?'
West Ham fans to Leverkusen fans tonight as they bounce in sync: “What the f*cking hell is that?” ??pic.twitter.com/KOyeId1O9B
— Football Away Days (@FBAwayDays) April 18, 2024
West Ham fans' actions don't go down well on social media
In England, fan groups are perhaps too quick to jump down the throats of other groups who try and do something a little bit different. The Man City 192 bus tifo from their Champions League tie with Real Madrid is evidence of this as was West Ham's response to seeing a group of fans all in sync with one and other.
Their response to the Leverkusen away end drew criticism online, from other football fans. One person posted on X: “English fans embarrassing themselves yet again. English atmospheres don’t even come close to the typical German atmosphere, we should be jealous of the fan culture that they have achieved.”
Another person said: “English fans might be the worst in Europe and what makes them even worse is that they think they're the best.” A third added: “Yes, that's right the football team with the bubble machines are trying to take the p*ss out of away fans bouncing and singing together.”
Perhaps the moral of the story here is not to poke fun at other fans if you use bubble machines to try and build an atmosphere.