The glorious European record which was equalled and broken by the Bundesliga’s Champion, Bayer Leverkusen, for the longest unbeaten run in football club history was demolished by a Nigerian and Atalanta player named ademola Lookman, who netted an incredible hat-trick against the German club in the Europa League final in Dublin. This record which spanned over 361 days is finally over after 51 games without a defeat.
This extraordinary streak brought Alonso, his first Bundesliga title as a coach but was not enough to secure Europa League glory for the favourite as Atalanta deservedly picked up the trophy. Leverkusen’s hopes of an unprecedented unbeaten season are now over but it’s certainly been an incredible ride for fans and a season that will go down in history despite Wednesday’s defeat.
Atalanta, who gave a sterling display of quality performance against their opponent will now celebrate winning their first trophy since 1963 and a maiden European triumph. Leverkusen, meanwhile, will have to bounce back quickly as they play in the DFB-Pokal final on Saturday against Kaiserslautern and will hope to complete a league and cup double.
Ferenc Puskás hit four for Real Madrid against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960 European Cup final, and then hit three against Benfica in the final of the 1962 competition.
Alfredo Di Stéfano also scored three for Madrid in that 1960 final, while Pierino Prati scored three against Ajax for Milan in the 1969 showpiece. The only previous hat-trick in a UEFA Cup or Europa League final was scored by Jupp Heynckes, as Mönchengladbach beat Twente in the 1975 decider.
Lookman is only the third Nigerian player to find the net in a UEFA Cup or Europa League final, after Alex Iwobi in Arsenal’s 4-1 loss to Chelsea in 2019 and Joe Aribo, who scored Rangers’ goal as they lost on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt two years ago. He is also only the third Nigerian to appear in a final win in the competition, after Taribo West (Inter Milan, 1998) and Chidi Odiah (CSKA Moskva, 2005).
Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman who was named Hankook Player of the Match after his hat-trick won the 2024 UEFA Europa League final for the Italian side.Atalanta started on the front foot and took the lead after just 12 minutes with a fine goal. Teun Koopmeiners sent Davide Zappacosta scampering forwards and he was able to deliver a low ball into the penalty area that evaded everyone until it was fired into the top corner by an unmarked Lookman at the far post.
The Italians continued to threaten and fully deserved a second before the half-hour mark. Lookman picked up a loose ball, nutmegged Granit Xhaka and then curled a gorgeous effort past goalkeeper Matej Kovar. Bayer Leverkusen, who came into the match on a 51-game unbeaten streak, looked lacklustre in their delivery and was stunned by the swift display by their opponent but simply couldn’t find a response.
Juan Musso came out bravely to claim a ball aimed at Alejandro Grimaldo but otherwise was barely troubled by Alonso’s side.Indeed it was left to Lookman to finish Leverkusen off with his best goal of the night to seal his hat-trick. The winger received the ball out wide on the left, shifted it past Edmond Tapsoba and then rifled an unstoppable rising shot into the roof of the net to win the Europa League for Atalanta
FACT: Other winners of the MOTM during Europa League Finals…
Player of the Match: Previous finals2023 Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)2022 Kevin Trapp (Frankfurt)2021 Étienne Capoue (Villarreal)2020 Luuk de Jong (Sevilla)2019 Eden Hazard (Chelsea)2018 Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid)2017 Ander Herrera (Man United)2016 Coke (Sevilla)2015 Éver Banega (Sevilla)2014 Ivan Rakitić (Sevilla)2013 Branislav Ivanović (Chelsea)2012 Radamel Falcao (Atlético)2011 Radamel Falcao (Porto)2010 Diego Forlán (Atlético de Madrid)2009 Darijo Srna (Shakhtar)2008 Andrey Arshavin (Zenit)2007 Andrés Palop (Sevilla)2006 Enzo Maresca (Sevilla)2005 Daniel Carvalho (CSKA Moskva)2004 Roberto Ayala (Valencia)2003 Derlei (Porto)2002 Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord)2001 Gary McAllister (Liverpool)2000 Cláudio Taffarel (Galatasaray)1999 Hernán Crespo (Parma)1998 Ronaldo (Inter)
