Atalanta, you are a Goddess: the Europa League is yours. Knocked out Leverkusen 3-0

Dublin, 22 May 2024 – An invisible thread connected the thousands of people from Bergamo in the square in front of the big screen with those who achieved the feat in Ireland. Atalanta he won l'Europa League and he made history. About her and Italian football. Ademola Lookman he is the man of the evening, with his hat-trick, but all the Nerazzurri were the man for their dedication, tasks well carried out, total superiority over the German champions who have gone 51 games without defeat. Gasperini's perfect evening, opened by the Nigerian after thirteen minutes, then closed with a brilliant right-foot shot and a lightning left foot in the second half. Total jubilation. Bergamo capital of Europe. A city battered by Covid that is definitively reborn and puts the icing on the cake to a Gasperinian cycle that now also includes a trophy on the showcase. My goodness, they say in Bergamo and in fact it was Bayer who gave up. The final three to zero says a lot about the progress of the match and the fact that the old lion Gasperini he explained it to the young rampant Xabi Alonso.

Lookman now

Gasperini chooses a heavy trident with Lookman and De Ketelaere in support of Scamacca. Kolasinac returns to defense. Xabi Alonso with Adli, Wirtz and Grimaldo in the attack department.

It starts with possession Bayer who immediately tries to take possession of the ball and other people's half of the pitch, but Atalanta it is alive and lively and has the right intensity to respond blow for blow. In fact, the first opportunity belongs to the Goddess, who steals from midfield and extends the game to Ruggeri, who is able to cross straight to Chess which is anticipated by a breath from Tah. It's a beautiful Goddess at the start and in the 13th minute the deserved advantage arrives. Insistent action from the Bergamo players who then break through to the right with Zappa costa, ball behind trailer where it comes out Lookman: flat left and 1-0. The Nerazzurri's pressing is effective and inhibits Alonso's low build, as he cannot find vertical lines of play and so the forwards are left without supplies. The Germans lose some references between the lines and Scamacca has a half chance with his left foot from the edge of the area: high ball. There is only Atalanta on the pitch and in the 25th minute there is the second. Another steal in the key area following a clearance from the goalkeeper, the ball then reaches Lookman who places the tunnel on Xhaka and the right-footed shot that is uncatchable for Kovar. Gasp celebrates, 2-0. The Goddess took a risk only in the 35th minute when Grimaldo squandered a good chance one-on-one with Musso, but it was still Gasperini's men who controlled the pace of the match. The German team is unable to find a fluid and convincing maneuver and when the ball manages to reach the offensive zone the sumptuous Hien and Kolasinac dominate. Opportunities still come from Kovar's area, for example when The Ketelaere shoot from distance without finding the right angle. Leverkusen, with the path to the area closed off, attempted an unrealistic shot from far away with Xhaka, but the ball went wide. The first half is therefore a sumptuous interpretation of the Goddess who put the German champions in check, leaving nothing to chance, dominating in ideas and intensity and gaining a well-deserved double advantage.

Lookman phenomenon

Xabi Alonso has to change something and he does so at half-time by making his Bayer more offensive boniface in place of an extinct Stanisic. Gasp instead has to change Kolasinac, not to his best, so it's his turn to Scalvini. Atalanta still approaches in a great way koopmeiners he invents a restart for the cross where he rushes The Ketelaere anticipated by a whisker by Tapsoba. Alonso is agitated on the bench, his players are unable to react, while Gasp chooses Pasalic for the last half hour in place of De Ketelaere, in order to give greater physicality and even greater balance to the team. Bayer tries more with desire and desperation than with ideas, so Alonso also goes with Andrich and Hlozek, but Lookman he is impregnable and an inextricable enigma for the Germans who can only stop him by force. Musso he risks little, very little, and is only involved in a few aerial exits which he carries out with maximum concentration, because Atalanta are rhythmic, fluid, intense and square in their orderly pressing. Only in the last twenty minutes did the Goddess decide to fall back, taking the right risks and maintaining their positions without losing intensity. We need to maintain the result and take advantage of the counterattack. No sooner said than done. 'Ademolamia', as he is renamed in Bergamo, crowns his magical evening in the 73rd minute. The restart orchestrated by Chess it's perfect, then he thinks about it Lookman who skips Tabsoba and unloads his left foot into the top corner. Hat-trick and paradise. The finale is a long parade of songs and joy for the Bergamo fans who have traveled up to Dublin: in fact only them can be heard. The evening of celebration can begin, because Leverkusen raises the white flag while Atalanta lifts the Europa League. After 25 years, since Malesani's Parma in 1999, an Italian team returns to win this cup. What a story. Atalanta, you are a Goddess.

The little table

Atalanta-Bayer Leverkusen 3-0

Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Musso, Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac (1' st Scalvini); Zappacosta (37' st Hateboer), Ederson, Koopmeiners, Ruggeri (45' st Toloi); De Ketelaere (11' st Pasalic), Lookman; Scamacca (37' st Toure). All. Gasperini.

Available: Adopo, Bakker, Carnesecchi, Miranchuk, Rossi, Toure

Bayer Leverkusen (3-4-3): Kovar, Stanisic (1' st Boniface), Tah, Tapsoba; Frimpong (35' st Tella), Xhaka, Palacios (23' st Andrich), Hincapie; Wirtz (35' st Schick), Adli, Grimaldo (23' st Hlozek). Coach Xabi Alonso.

Available: Arthur, Hofmann, Hradecky, Iglesias, Kossounou, Lomb, Puerta.

Scorers: Lookman 13', Lookman 25', Lookman 73'

Booked: Djimisiti, Scamacca, Wirtz, Tapsoba

Expelled: none