One final match
You know what being a final means? Montages. Lots and lots of montages.
Prepare to see hundreds of them tonight, and you can kick things off with this one. Get yourselves in the mood, West Ham fans…
Rice: We can be remembered forever
Declan Rice has urged his West Ham teammates to “create a legacy” that will see them “remembered forever” by winning tonight’s final.
Rice believes victory in what is expected to be his final game for the club would be his greatest achievement in football, with the 24-year-old preparing to lead the Hammers out in their first major European final since 1976.
The midfielder is set to be sold this summer, with the likes of Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Manchester United all pushing to seal a deal that could be worth around £100million.
Before then, however, Rice has the chance to join the legendary figures of Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds as the only West Ham captains to have ever lifted major silverware.
“This will be the biggest match that the Club has had in so long, so it’s going to be an honour to be part of and hopefully we can create some history on the night for the fans to cheer about,” Rice told the club website.
“We’ve already created history by getting to the final, but now there’s a chance to go and create a legacy where every single player, the manager, everyone involved will be remembered forever.
“I think it would be my biggest achievement I’ve had in football so far, 100 per cent.”
Malik Ouzia at the Eden Arena
The West Ham end must be about five per cent full, but you wouldn’t know it from the noise that has just greeted the players as they come out for a look around.
Several of them are wearing beaming smiles, as if they cannot believe the support two hours before kick-off.
How they got here…
It’s been a superb season in Europe for West Ham, a run that began last August and finishes ten months later tonight.
AEK Larnaca were seen off in the last-16 before David Moyes’ side beat Gent in the quarter-finals. That set up a last-clash with AZ Alkmaar, one that Pablo Fornals put to bed in the finals seconds of the second leg.
Arrests in Prague
Sixteen people have been detained following an attack by Fiorentina fans on West Ham supporters in Prague.
Videos on social media showed a group of hooded men throwing chairs and smashing glasses while Hammers fans sat in the bar on the city’s Rytirska Street.
A statement from Czech police said three people had been injured in the incident which also saw a police offer attacked.
“We have restricted the personal freedom of 16 people and we are currently investigating the whole incident,” the statement said.
More than 10,000 officers are on duty in the Czech capital with major security concerns around the game given the vast numbers of supporters who have travelled without tickets.
Standard Sport prediction
As seen in the Europa League final last week, these kind of matches rarely produce end-to-end, exciting football.
That is not likely to be the type of game David Moyes wants anyway, with his West Ham side reaching the final with a more pragmatic approach against AZ Alkmaar in the last four.
A tense, nervy encounter can be expected, with the Hammers potentially just edging it to round off the season in memorable fashion.
West Ham to win, 1-0.
Fiorentina team news
Fiorentina are not believed to have any significant injury concerns to deal with, having made a number of changes domestically in recent weeks to keep players fit for the final.
Arthur Cabral should lead the line, with Nicolas Gonzalez pushing for a start after his brace in the semi-final win over Basel.
West Ham team news
David Moyes has no new injury concerns heading into tonight’s Europa Conference League final.
With a ten-day gap between the final day of the Premier League season and the showpiece in Prague, the Hammers have been away on a warm weather training camp in Portugal, allowing the boss to keep a close eye on the squad, and Moyes has no concerns over his team’s sharpness.
“We’ve played 56 games this season and last year 63 or 64,” he said. “Hopefully the gap of 10 days won’t be too big an issue when we’ve played so many games.”
Gianluca Scamacca is the only player missing, with the Italian striker having seen his season curtailed by knee surgery.
The Hammers boss rotated his team in the final Premier League games of the season, with survival already assured, but is expected to revert to the first XI that became established during his side’s upturn in form, with perhaps only two areas of debate.
At right-back, Thilo Kehrer will be hopeful of keeping his shirt, despite Vladimir Coufal’s desperation to play in his home city, while Moyes must choose between Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals on the left wing, the Spaniard having made a push to start with his impressive late-season form.
Predicted West Ham XI: (4-3-3) Areola; Kehrer, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice, Paqueta; Bowen, Antonio, Benrahma
