IT IS usually around this point in a European run that a tiring team in a position of some peril turns to past glories and glorious comebacks in search of a touch of inspiration.
Liverpool fans might talk of summoning the spirit of Istanbul; Manchester United of Barcelona in 1999; Chelsea that of Munich a decade ago.
For those of a Hammers persuasion long enough in the tooth, perhaps there will be a temptation to draw hope from the tie against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1976; the slightly freakish coincidence of facing the same opposition in two consecutive major European semi-finals 46 years apart only amplified after last week's first leg finished 2-1 to the German side, just as it had almost half-a-century ago.
Should fate continue to follow the same, long-untouched path Trevor Brooking and Co triumphed 3-1 in the second leg to reach a Cup Winners' Cup Final they lost to Anderlecht - then a narrative of "meant-to-be" and destiny may well prevail.
But for now, for at least two generations of the supporters who have travelled here to Germany, and certainly for this group of players as they prepare to walk out at Deutsche Bank Park tonight, it will not mean much.
"I only saw it myself online," Jarrod Bowen said yesterday, when asked about the first edition of this drawn-out duology. "I wasn't sure of the year. We haven't spoken about it."
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