Europa: Ademola Lookman wins cup for Atalanta, sinks Bayer Leverkusen with hattrick

Nigerian football star, Ademola Lookman, made history on Wednesday.
The Atalanta striker, who once played for Everton, Fulham and Leicester,
became the first player to ever score a hat-trick in a Europa League final.
With his hat-trick, Lookman also ended Bayer Leverkusen’s 51-game unbeaten run as Atalanta won the Europa League final 3-0.
Xabi Alonso’s team simply ran out of steam after a phenomenal season with Lookman running them ragged, opening the scoring with a back-post finish 12 minutes into the explosive match before doubling the advantage with a stunning curling effort 14 minutes later.
He wrapped up his famous treble with a powerful left-footed strike that flew into the top corner, becoming the first player to ever score a hat-trick in a Europa League final.
After storming to their first Bundesliga title, Leverkusen’s hopes of their own treble are over although they can secure a domestic double by defeating Kaiserslautern in the German Cup on Saturday.
For Atalanta boss, Gian Piero Gasperini, this was the first major trophy of his long career – an overdue success. The victory also gave Atalanta their second trophy in their 116-year history, over six decades after the Bergamo side had won the Coppa Italia.
Gasperini’s team had lost to Juventus in the final of the Coppa Italia seven days earlier but they recovered from that setback to knock Leverkusen out of their stride.

And Lookman provided the cutting edge to reward a polished all-round performance.
Leverkusen did not seem prepared for Atalanta’s high press that forced early mistakes and set the tone of the contest.
Granit Xhaka was guilty of losing possession for Matteo Ruggeri to set up a headed opportunity for Gianluca Scamacca.
If that was a clear warning, Leverkusen did not heed it and Atalanta were ahead after 12 minutes.
Teun Koopmeiners pounced on a partially-cleared corner and slipped a delightful pass inside to Davide Zappacosta, who pulled it back into a dangerous area. The ball travelled across the box and, with Exequiel Palacios back on his heels and unaware of imminent danger, Lookman stole in to convert with a firm side-foot.
Matters got worse for Leverkusen after 26 minutes with their failure to maintain possession and defend the transition again costing them. Lookman took care of a loose ball before slipping it through the legs of Xhaka and finding the net from 20 yards with an unstoppable curling shot.
Leverkusen should have halved the deficit when Alex Grimaldo was played through and Musso had advanced too far. It was not a difficult task for Grimaldo to chip Musso but his effort failed to clear the grateful goalkeeper.
Leverkusen were the comeback kings of European football having scored 10 equalisers or winners in the 90th minute or injury time, including two in one game, in 2024.

But the Germans had no answer this time as Scamacca found Lookman on the left with defenders desperately retreating.
Lookman bought some space with a stepover and planted a vicious left-foot shot past Kovar to start the Atalanta celebrations.