Nathan Tella has admitted that Bayer Leverkusen did not play their best football, especially in the first half, during their 1-1 stalemate with West Ham at the London Stadium on Thursday in the Europa League quarter-finals.

The newly crowned German champions went into the game on the back of a 2-0 lead from the reverse fixture last week.

Xabi Alonso's men struggled to contain the hosts in the early minutes of the first half and eventually conceded the first goal, courtesy of Michail Antonio in the 13th minute.

Buoyed by the goal, the Hammers went in search of the second goal, but despite plenty of huffing and puffing, they couldn't get the all-important goal to draw them level on aggregate.

Alonso made a tactical tweak in the second half by introducing Victor Boniface and Jeremie Frimpong into the game, which turned the tide for Die Werkself with the latter getting the equaliser for Leverkusen in the 89th minute.

Super Eagles forward Nathan Tella, who was taken off for Frimpong at halftime, was elated with the result. But he was quick to admit that their first-half performance wasn't the best.

The result ensured Leverkusen will advance to the semi-finals of the Europa League for the second year runnng.

Nathan Tella reflects on West Ham stalemate Speaking to journalist Ian Abrahams after the game, Tella said," "Obviously, we knew it would be a difficult place to come. We knew, especially from the press conference, that they would come out and try to make things difficult for us, and they did."

"First half, I don't think we played our best football, which won us the league and got us to this position, but we knew that we had to stick to our principles," he added.

"The manager said there was halftime to get us going again. The second half was a different performance and thankfully we were able to get through. Jeremie scored the goal, and thankfully, we are through."

"Obviously, we knew that when you come to a place like this it will always be difficult. We were 2-0 up on aggregate and obviously they were trying to make it to the semifinals, same as us. We just had to show a mature performance. We didn't do that in the first half, but thankfully we had a better response in the second performance."

Photo by Icon Sport Nathan Tella embraces opportunity at Bayer Leverkusen: excited to compete at the highest level Reflecting on his time at Bayer Leverkusen, the Nigeria international expressed his excitement and gratitude for the chance to play at such a high level.

"It's good. I am really happy to be here. Having the opportunity to play in competitions like this, playing in the league when the league is something you can only dream about but obviously focusing on the game against Dortmund on Sunday," Tella said.

Tella joined Leverkusen in August 2023 on a five-year contract for a reported fee of PS20 million. He made his debut appearance for the club on 2nd September 2023 in a 5-1 victory against SV Darmstadt 98, coming on as a substitute for Jeremie Frimpong in the 72nd minute.

On 5th October 2023, Tella netted his maiden goal for Bayer Leverkusen in a 1-2 triumph against Molde in the Europa League.

Leverkusen eye redemption against Roma in Europa League semi-finals Leverkusen will be facing Italian outfit AS Roma in the semi-finals of the Europa League.

The two sides met at this stage of the competition last season, with Roma eliminating the German side. One sentiment prevails among the Leverkusen team: the desire for redemption.

Nathan Tella, though he had yet to join Leverkusen during last season's campaign, echoed this sentiment as he shared his thoughts ahead of the crucial matchup.

"We are not talking about it yet but obviously watching the game last year, the boys said if they got Roma again, it will be a game of revenge and hopefully we can keep going, keep focusing on the league and when it is time for Roma, we will able to make amends for last year."

Roma will host Leverkusen in the first leg on 2 May 2024 with the reverse fixture coming up a week later.