Vladimir Coufal is looking forward to the challenge of facing Bayer Leverkusen and hopes his insight on Czech teammates can give West Ham the edge.

West Ham have the opportunity to put a huge dent in Bayer Leverkusen’s so far perfect season. Across all competitions Xabi Alonso’s side are 41 games unbeaten. It undoubtedly will be an incredibly difficult task to end this, but the Hammers have a unique advantage which could lead them to victory.

Multiple of Leverkusen’s key players have something in common – they’re all Czech. With a couple of Czech’s of their own in their side, West Ham may be able to neutralise the threat they bring.

Vladimir Coufal is well aware of the threat, but is hopeful that this could give them his side the edge. “They have a lot of strong players in their team, and it’s not going to be an easy match,” the right-back told the official site. “We’re going to do everything we can to stop them, and I’m going to give the lads some insight to help them!”

“Patrik Schick is a tremendous striker, and he was their hero in the last round. Adam Hložek has shown he can score from nothing, and I’ve had some banter with MatÄ›j Kovář through text.”

“If we weren’t in the competition anymore I’d probably be cheering them on to win the whole thing, but we have a job to do and we’re confident we can stop them.”

“They’re favourites to win the Bundesliga and the German Cup, but hopefully we can make sure that two trophies is all they’re going to get this season.”

While everyone is aware of the quality that the German outfit possess, the Irons have brilliant players too who Coufal believes will help them to keep these special European nights coming. “I’m very good friends with Tomáš Souček, and in the four years or so we’ve played together at West Ham I don’t think we’ve ever really had a problem,” he confirmed.

“He’s a great player as well, and together we helped overcome defeat in the first leg against SC Freiburg and win 5-0 back at London Stadium, which was an incredible night.”

“Mohammed Kudus was amazing that night. I couldn’t believe my eyes when he scored his first goal, with such an amazing run. It was like when you play on the PlayStation or Xbox.”

“That was the latest of many great memories in Europe over the past few years. Winning the Europa Conference League last season, especially in Prague, was indescribable, and we want to keep those kinds of experiences coming.”

In terms of personal performances, Coufal has enjoyed a brilliant season, especially when going forward. However, that first West Ham goal still eludes him and he has made it his target to score before the season ends.

“I have chipped in with some assists, which is always nice. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to score for West Ham yet, but I can sense that goal coming.”

“Hopefully I can score by the end of the season, and help fire the team to some more success!”