Nigeria forward Ademola Lookman scored a stunning hat-trick for Atalanta as the Italian club ended Bayer Leverkusen’s 51-game unbeaten run and won the Europa League final 3-0 on Wednesday night.
Leverkusen ran out of steam after a phenomenal season with Lookman running them ragged, opening the scoring with a back-post finish on 12 minutes 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 meaning he became 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 beating 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.
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The victory also gave Atalanta only the 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.
Lookman, once of Everton, Fulham, and Leicester, provided the cutting edge to reward a polished all-round performance.
Lookman’s hat-trick for Atalanta was the sixth to be scored in a major UEFA final. It was the first since Jupp Heynckes’ for Borussia Monchengladbach against FC Twente in 1975, which was the only other one to be scored in a UEFA Cup/Europa League final.
Atalanta end their season with two Serie A matches, the first of which is at home to Torino on Sunday. They then host Fiorentina on Sunday, June 2.
Bayern Leverkusen’s final match of the season is against second-tier Kaiserslautern in the DFB Pokal final in Berlin on Saturday.
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