West Ham and Europe are not the greatest bedfellows

West Ham are confident they can still battle back to win the tie despite a 1-0 defeat in the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium last week. However, injuries to crucial players, including Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell, mean this might not be the best time to face a Spanish side who have progressed from a first leg European lead 19 out of the last 20 times.

The last time West Ham were in the Europa League was in 2016/17 when they got past NK Domzale of Slovenia in the qualifying round but lost 2-1 on aggregate to Romania's Astra in the play-off game.

The previous year they'd gone out 4-3 on aggregate to the same club at the third qualifying round stage, but no doubt, people pretended not to care about a tournament someone will definitely have called "Mickey Mouse".

The Alan Pardew years

That infamous high performance disco dancer, Alan Pardew (currently something called an "adviser on football matters, to the owners of CSKA Sofia") was at the helm back then and they were drawn against Palermo.

On the pitch the Hammers got their arses kicked 3-0, took them back to Upton Park and lost again, this time by a single goal, but not before there was more antagonism and fighting.

These games were significant in that they marked the full debut of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez and were part of the worst run of results the club had seen for 70 years.

Pardew had said they were in it to win it, but the truth was, they were useless and 'Chunky' would be sacked in December 2006, only to turn up at Charlton 13 days later, almost certainly looking very pleased with himself.

He needn't have worried, they only lasted two rounds, getting knocked out 2-0 on aggregate by Steaua Bucharest. They'd waited 20 years for some European action but it had all ended quickly but the Hammers would end up ninth that year, which was, it seems, more important than trying to win a trophy.

The grim 1980s

They beat Castilla of Spain 6-4 over two legs, the away tie was marred by, surprise surprise, crowd violence, which saw one West Ham fan killed.

This was the era of the West Ham Inter City Firm who promulgated organised hooliganism, which saw goons fighting with opposition fans as well as their own fans. Worse still, they inspired the risible film Green Street and that is unforgivable.

After the 'ghost game' they beat Romania's Poli Timisoara 4-1 over two legs in the next round. This put them into the quarter-final, an amazing achievement for a club in Division 2. They played Dinamo Tbilisi but were totally outclassed, losing at home 4-1. A 1-0 win away, saw them knocked out 4-2.

European silverware

The Hammers' initial venture into Europe in the 1964/65 season saw them, under Ron Greenwood, actually winning the Cup Winners' Cup, beating 1860 Munich 2-0 at Wembley.

One of the club's most glorious achievements, this meant they could play in the next season's tournament. This time they lost in the semi-final to Borussia Dortmund 5-2 on aggregate.

They had another go in the 1975/76 Cup Winners Cup, won the home leg of each of the four knockout ties by scoring three goals and once again making the final only to lose to Anderlecht 4-2 at the Heysel Stadium.

Italian adventures

Also in 1975 they played in one of those deliciously niche cup competitions, the Anglo-Italian League Cup which matched the FA Cup winners of England with the Coppa Italia winners, for no apparent reason.

This put the Irons up against Fiorentina. They lost 1-0 in each leg. The competition was only played five times in total and was scrapped after the following year's game between Southampton and Napoli (which Napoli won 4-1)

Can this West Ham buck the trend?

Overall they have played 57 games of European football winning 28, drawing 11 and losing 18.

Given West Ham are unlikely to qualify for the Champions League, their only chance of doing so is to win the Europa League. But Julen Lopetegui's Sevilla, currently second in La Liga, are their biggest European test since playing Dinamo Tbilisi 42 years ago and a goal up.

Will David Moyes' and his squad be up to the task?

Could one of West Ham's talented crop of youngesters be the answer on Thursday night? Daniel Chesters and Sonny Perkins could this be your breakthrough moment?

It seems unlikely…but you never know, this side continue to surprise.