intracht Frankfurt’s official social media channel have described West Ham as “a club in the shadow of the London heavyweights enjoying a recent boom”.
The two will meet at the London Stadium on Thursday in the first-leg of their Europa League semi-final, the biggest game either club have had in decades.
Previewing the game for their followers, Frankfurt posted an article on Twitter offering somewhat a lowdown of David Moyes’ side.
The message read: “This is West Ham United FC! About a club in the shadow of the London heavyweights enjoying a recent boom.”
After beating Lyon in the last round, Declan Rice claimed the French club’s suggestion on social that there was no way West Ham could beat them offered extra motivation.
“Them things come back to bite you,” he said. “We stayed quiet, put in a performance and now West Ham are in the semis. What more do we want?”
Further build-up to the game has been dominated by worries about ticketing.
An estimated 30, 000 Frankfurt fans watched their side beat Barcelona inside the Camp Nou at the quarter-final stage after purchasing tickets from home supporters.
In order to combat something similar happening on Thursday, West Ham have vowed to ban supporters found to have sold their tickets on.