Atalanta’s hat-trick hero Ademola Lookman holds the trophy after his team won the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, Wednesday, May 22, 2024.
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Ademola Lookman scored a stunning hat-trick as Atalanta beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final on Wednesday to win just the second major trophy in their 117-year history and end the German champions’ remarkable unbeaten streak.

Lookman, who struggled to establish himself in the English Premier League with Everton, Fulham and Leicester City before reviving his career in Italy under Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini, struck twice inside the first 26 minutes before sealing the win 15 minutes from fulltime.

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The victory ended Gasperini’s own two-decade long pursuit of major silverware as his side totally outplayed Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen – or ‘Neverlusen’ as they had been dubbed after going an incredible 51 games unbeaten.

But just as they did against Premier League heavyweights Liverpool and three-times finalists Olympique de Marseille in the previous two rounds, Atalanta didn’t give their opponents a sniff to mark their first European final with a famous victory.

“We needed to be attacking, it was not enough just to defend. We know these teams are great at attacking. Everyone was extraordinary,” Gasperini told Sky Sports Italia, referring to the teams his side beat to become the first Italian winners of the competition since Parma 25 years ago.

“The way we did it was the most important thing, we deserved it without a shadow of a doubt against such a strong team. Winning the Europa League is an extraordinary achievement.”

Leverkusen’s head coach Xabi Alonso and his players applaud fans at the end of the Europa League final against Atalanta at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, on May 23, 2024.
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AP

Leverkusen started the game looking decidedly unsure of themselves and some uncharacteristically sloppy play handed the first chance of the game to Gianluca Scamacca, who didn’t get enough on his header from a fine Matteo Ruggeri cross.

It was an early warning shot and the purposeful Italians struck within minutes when Davide Zappacosta was allowed far too much space down the right before Lookman beat a flatfooted Exequiel Palacios to the cut back to stroke home the opener.

Lookman was mobbed by his team mates and substitutes who were in dreamland 14 minutes later.

Another Leverkusen error gifted possession to the Nigeria forward, who skipped past one defender and curled a beautiful right-footed shot into the bottom-right corner from just outside the box.

Stunning strike

The stunned Germans showed brief flashes of how quickly they can turn it on in attack but little came of it and it was Charles De Ketelaere who came closest on the break as Atalanta did not show a shred of debut final nerves nor any effects from the absence of injured captain Marten de Roon.

Leverkusen swapped defender Josip Stanisic for top scorer Victor Boniface at halftime but it changed little as both sets of travelling fans continued to create the kind of Aviva Stadium noise matched only by some of the Irish rugby teams’ famous wins or memorable international soccer nights of years gone by.

Leverkusen had only failed to score once during the run that featured 42 wins in all competitions and 17 goals scored in or after the 90th minute, but the chances of another comeback faded away against the resolute Atalanta backline.

Lookman completely extinguished them on the counterattack with another stunning strike into the top corner, this time with his left foot to complete his hat-trick, the sixth in a major European final and first since Jupp Heynckes’ for Borussia Moenchengladbach in the 1975 UEFA Cup.

He was flung into the air by his team mates 15 minutes later when the final whistle blew and the Bergamo club ended the 61-year wait since their 1963 Italian Cup triumph.

“It’s one of the best nights of my life,” Lookman, who cradled the matchball as he collected his winners’ medal, told TNT Sports.

“It was an amazing performance from the team. We did it… We made history tonight.”

Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka celebrates with team mates after the German cup match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Fortuna Duesseldorf in Leverkusen, Germany on April 3, 2024.
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Bayer Leverkusen is on the verge of a historic league and cup double in Germany after sweeping aside local rival Fortuna Duesseldorf 4-0 in the German Cup semifinals.

Florian Wirtz scored twice on Wednesday as Xabi Alonso’s team, which also leads the Bundesliga by 13 points, marked its 40th game of the season unbeaten in all competitions.

Leverkusen faces off in the May 25 cup final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion against second-tier Kaiserslautern, which ended the surprise run of third-division Saarbruecken with a 2-0 win on Tuesday.

On a wet night, Leverkusen took the lead in the seventh minute when Jeremie Frimpong seized on a loose ball at the far post and lofted a shot over goalkeeper Florian Kastenmeier.

That forced Fortuna to open up its play in search of a goal, and Leverkusen promptly responded with a searing counterattack.

Three passes took the ball from Leverkusen’s touchline to the back of Fortuna’s net as Amine Adli made it 2-0. Soon it was three as Kastenmeier gave the ball away to Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich, who set up Wirtz to score.

Wirtz scored another from the penalty spot after a handball, before Leverkusen celebrated the return of striker Victor Boniface, back in action for the club for the first time since December after he was injured while training with Nigeria ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Leverkusen had a further boost last week when Alonso said he would stay on as coach amid speculation linking him with Liverpool and Bayern Munich. Since then, Leverkusen has won both its games and seen Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel concede the Bundesliga title race.

Fortuna, which is pushing for promotion from the second division, was a heavy underdog ahead of the game, even before its star midfielder Ao Tanaka was ruled out.

The Japan international had to go into urgent surgery to remove his appendix and gave his teammates a pregame thumbs-up gesture from a hospital bed.