West Ham and Fiorentina fight for Europa Conference League title in Prague

West Ham and Fiorentina will go head to head in the final of the UEFA Europa Conference League on Wednesday in Prague for a chance to make it to next season’s UEFA Europa League and to also end the season with a trophy.

For West Ham United, who only managed to escape relegation and finished in fourteenth in the Premier League, beating the Italians is not only a means to qualifying for Europe next season but also to end their 4-decade-long trophy drought.

The Hammers’ last silverware came in 1980 when they won the 1980 FA Cup while their last major European trophy since the European Cup Winners’ Cup at Wembley in 1965, where they defeated 1860 Munich in the final. While that may be many decades away, manager David Moyes thinks the team can go ahead and win it.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be in the final. It’s a big achievement for the club, but now it’s about going and winning it. I don’t know if we’ll ever get a statue [if West Ham wins], but I do believe that the players have got a good opportunity to be remembered by everybody at this club; it feels special.” Moyes said.

West Ham has received 4,890 tickets for the 19,370-capacity Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, and will hope to be the second winner of the competition after AS Roma won the inaugural edition last year after beating Feyenoord in the final. If West Ham wins on Wednesday,

it will mean that England will have three teams in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League next season, joining Liverpool and Brighton.

It will also see the Premier League have eight teams total in Europe, with Four in the UCL, three in the UEL, and one in the Conference League. The story is also similar for Italian side Fiorentina who will be hoping to win their first European title since the 1960-61 European Cup Winners’ Cup and also qualify for the Europa League.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu