DUBLIN– Spoiler alert.
Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman was unstoppable and Bayer Leverkusen’s impossible dream of completing an entire season unbeaten with a hat-trick of titles proved to be just that.
Instead, Lookman was the hat-trick hero in Atalanta’s 3-0 victory over Leverkusen in the Europa League final on Wednesday.
It was a defeat few expected for the new German champions, whose European record unbeaten run was halted at 51 games by a team who won 3-0 at Liverpool in the quarter-finals.
Lookman, the London-born Nigerian international, was ruthless in punishing major mistakes by Leverkusen’s players by scoring twice in the first 26 minutes of a game in which the favorites never looked at ease. He crowned his solo show with an arrow shot in the 75th.
In any normal season, or in a typical European final, Atalanta and their veteran coach Gian Piero Gasperini would be a feel-good football story.
What’s not to love about neutral fans in the big-money Super League era? A well-run club from a small country town, playing attractive football on a modest budget, for a loyal manager to lift their first top-level trophy in 61 years.
Instead, it was up to Atalanta to play the villain and thwart Leverkusen’s bid for European football immortality.
Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso must now call up his players for Saturday’s German Cup final. They will start as heavy favorites to beat second division Kaiserslautern at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
As the minutes ticked down in Dublin, Alonso finally saw his team lose standing alone in front of the bench. He alternated between stuffing his hands in the pockets of his tight black jeans and then crossing his arms.
A few meters away, a cheerful 66-year-old Gasperini – his black jacket zipped up against the night’s chill – danced with his players and coaching staff in anticipation of the final whistle.
Alonso’s big decision on Wednesday was to prefer Exequiel Palacios in midfield rather than Robert Andrich, but the 2022 World Cup winner with Argentina was at fault for the opening goal.
Palacios, defending the far post, was completely unaware of Lookman behind him when Davide Zappacosta’s goalmouth ball eluded everyone. Lookman darted into Palacios’ blind side to score with a rising shot.
It was 2-0 after 26 minutes when Leverkusen once again lost the ball in the middle of their own half. Amine Adli’s aimless header towards his own defense bounced back to Lookman.
The former Everton player avoided a Granit Xhaka tackle and shot with his right foot into the corner after goalkeeper Matěj Kovář had dived to his left.
It was the fourth time Leverkusen had lost 2-0 in the Europa League round of 16 since March, but their unbeaten run had never looked so risky. The flurry of goals late in the season and in stoppage time eluded Leverkusen this time.
Even before Atalanta’s goals, Bergamo fans – outnumbered by some 12,000 to 9,000 by Leverkusen’s among the 48,000 spectators – mostly outnumbered their German counterparts on a cloudy and windy night in the Irish capital.
The players responded with physical commitment from the opening minutes, breaking Leverkusen out of their typically elegant, tight-marking style.
Leverkusen repeatedly gifted Atalanta the ball in their own half and created little. When the scoring opportunities arose, Álex Grimaldo shot weakly into the arms of goalkeeper Juan Musso, who had advanced off his line, and Jeremie Frimpong’s shot went over the goal.
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AP Football:
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