Atalanta Bergamo won the Europa League football trophy after beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 (2-0) on Wednesday evening at the Dublin Arena in a match refereed by Romanian Istvan Kovacs.
Photo: uefa.com
The Italian side won their first European trophy and ended a 51-game unbeaten run in all competitions that the new Bundesliga champions had this season. The hero of the evening was the Nigerian striker Ademola Lookman, who scored a hat-trick (12, 26, 75). Atalanta was by far the better team, more lucid, more focused, more inspired.
“La Dea” opened the score in min. 12, Lookman scoring from Zappacosta's cross, after taking Palacios' face. Bayer responded shortly after, but Stanisic's shot (19) did not cause problems for goalkeeper Musso.
Atalanta doubled its advantage (26), through the same Ademola Lookman, after a ball easily lost by the team coached by Xabi Alonso, the Nigerian scoring with a corner kick dispatched from the edge of the box. No African player had so far managed to score two goals in a European Cup final.
Leverkusen had a great chance to get back into the match, but Grimaldo (35) missed the lob alone with goalkeeper Musso. Until the break, the team coached by Gian Piero Gasperini was dangerous in one more situation, but goalkeeper Kovar stopped De Ketelaere's shot (43).
After the break, Bayer Leverkusen struggled, but without results, not even managing to create decent scoring opportunities, in front of a formation that looked like a perfect mechanism. Ademola Lookman made the hat-trick in min. 75, when he feints Tapsoba and shoots hopelessly for Kovar. Lookman became the first player to score a hat-trick in a Europa League final (played in the first leg). The last player to score three goals in a final of this competition (UEFA Cup) was Jupp Heynckes (Borussia Moenchengladbach), in the second leg with Twente, in 1975.
Photo: uefa.com
Bayer couldn't even score the goal of honor, Musso opposing Wirtz's shot (80)
.Atalanta thus passes its second trophy in history, after the Italian Cup in 1963, also won with a hat-trick, signed by Angelo Domenghini, after a final with Torino.
Istvan Kovacs refereed the final flawlessly, although he had to show seven yellow cards.
If Atalanta missed out on a trophy at the end of the season, losing the final of the Italian Cup last week (0-1 with Juventus), Bayer Leverkusen has the opportunity to achieve the event in Germany, if they beat the second league team FC Kaiserlautern on May 25. in the final of the German Cup. Bayer remains with only one European trophy in the showcase, the UEFA Cup won in 1988.
Atalanta was already qualified for the Champions League, but winning the Europa League trophy can also bring AS Roma (6th place in Serie A) into the most important interclub competition on the continent, but the team from Bergamo will finish 5th in the championship.
Atalanta Bergamo – Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 (2-0) Scored: Ademola Lookman (12, 26, 75). Dublin, Dublin ArenaEuropa League – final
The teams evolved:
Atalanta: 1. Juan Musso – 19. Berat Djimsiti (captain), 4. Isak Hien, 23. Sead Kolasinac (42. Giorgio Scalvini, 46) – 77. Davide Zappacosta (33. Hans Hateboer, 84), 7. Teun Koopmeiners, 13. Ederson, 22. Matteo Ruggeri (2. Rafael Toloi, 90+1) – 17. Charles De Ketelaere (8. Mario Pasalic, 57), 90. Gianluca Scamacca (10. El Bilal Toure, 84), 11. Ademola Lookman. Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini. Unused reserves: 29. Marco Carnesecchi, 31. Francesco Rossi – 3. Emil Holm, 20. Mitchel Bakker, 15. Marten De Roon, 25. Michel Ndary Adopo, 59. Aleksei Miranciuk.
Bayer: 17. Matej Kovar – 2. Josip Stanisic (22. Victor Boniface, 46), 4. Jonathan Tah (captain), 12. Edmond Tapsoba – 30. Jeremie Frimpong (19. Nathan Tella, 81), 34. Granit Xhaka, 25. Exequiel Palacios (8. Robert Andrich, 69), 3. Piero Hincapie – 10. Florian Wirtz (14. Patrik Schick, 81) – 20. Alex Grimaldo (23. Adam Hlozek, 69), 21. Amine Adli. Coach: Xabi Alonso. Unused reserves: 1. Lukas Hradecky, 36. Niklas Lomb – 6. Odilon Kossounou, 13. Arthur, 7. Jonas Hofmann, 32. Gustavo Puerta, 9. Borja Iglesias.
Referee: Istvan Kovacs; assistant referees: Vasile Marinescu, Ovidiu Artene (all from Romania); fourth official: Ivan Kruzliak (Slovakia) Video referee: Pol van Boekel (Netherlands); video assistant referees: Cătălin Popa (Romania), Rob Dieperink (Netherlands) Observer for referees: Vladimir Sajn (Slovenia); UEFA delegate: Thibault De Gendt (Belgium)
Cards: Djimsiti (22), Wirtz (35), Scamacca (35), Zappacosta (60), Tapsoba (67), Koopmeiners (70), Andrich (73).
