Atalanta have done what no team had accomplished all season: they defeated Bayer Leverkusen. A historic Ademola Lookman hat trick vs Leverkusen paired with terrific defending was enough to secure Atalanta’s 3-0 victory and their first European trophy.
This was Atalanta’s first major trophy since winning the Coppa Italia in 1963. The Italian underdogs lost in the Coppa Italia final to Juventus this season but bounced back with an even larger reward.
Atalanta responded to their Italian cup final loss by punching Europe’s unbeaten beasts in the mouth right from the jump in the Europa League final.
Atalanta dominated the pace of the game early on, wouldn’t let Leverkusen build any attacks and struck through Lookman in the 12th minute.
Lookman hat trick vs Leverkusen
IT ONLY TOOK ADEMOLA LOOKMAN 12 MINUTES TO GIVE ATALANTA THE LEAD IN THE #UELFINAL pic.twitter.com/8JojIHJogn
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 22, 2024
Lookman’s goals just kept getting better. His second came from another Leverkusen turnover in possession. In the 26th minute the Nigerian forward sent an arrow to the bottom corner of Leverkusen’s net to double the lead.
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN GETS HIS BRACE
Dream start to the #UELFinal for Atalanta pic.twitter.com/6xjqsYqt1R— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 22, 2024
Atalanta held strong after taking the two-goal lead and kept a clean sheet against a side who had only failed to score in one game all season prior to the final. Leverkusen have pulled off a litany of late comebacks this season, but Lookman denied any chance of that with his spectacular third in the 75th minute.
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN WITH THE FIRST HAT-TRICK IN #UELFINAL HISTORY pic.twitter.com/b3pg4M8Pt7
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 22, 2024
Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen hadn’t conceded more than two goals to any team this season prior to Lookman’s masterclass.
Lookman is the only player in history to score a hat trick in a Europa League final.
6 - Ademola Lookman's is the sixth hat-trick to be scored in the final of a major UEFA competition, and the first since Jupp Heynckes' for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1975 UEFA Cup. Treble. pic.twitter.com/CCsNBoYvgB
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 22, 2024
⚫️ Gasperini: “It’s not just that we won, it’s *how* we won!”.
“We’ve beaten Liverpool when they were top of PL table, Sporting and now Bayer Leverkusen… we are extremely proud”. pic.twitter.com/gG9yrv3l5b— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 22, 2024
The #UELFinal hat-trick hero @GeoffShreeves caught up with @Alookman_ pic.twitter.com/phizuvfRz5
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 22, 2024
ATALANTA LIFT THEIR FIRST-EVER EUROPEAN TROPHY pic.twitter.com/08Hzptlouk
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 22, 2024
Leverkusen can still end the season on a high note with the DFB-Pokal final on Saturday against second tier FC Kaiserslautern. While the perfect season ultimately fell short, Leverkusen’s 51-game unbeaten run will be long remembered and likely never repeated.
