Europa League, Gasperini: "We achieved a feat. Wonderful match by the boys"

Dublin, 22 May 2024 – Il Atalanta's dream becomes reality: the Nerazzurri in fact taught a very harsh football lesson to Bayer Leverkusen - who were unbeaten in 51 games -, overwhelming them with a peremptory 3-0 and lifting the Europa League to the skies, the first European seal in the history of the Orobic club. He was the undisputed hero of the evening at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin Ademola Lookman, that he signed a historic hat-trick, taking home the cup and ball. The Nigerian striker's show began already in the 12th minute, when he anticipated Palacios' intervention with great timing and scored the ball with a left-footed shot. A goal that immediately put things downhill for the Nerazzurri, who did not rest on their laurels, continued to attack the match with great competitive fury and in the 26th minute they doubled their lead with the second gem from Lookman who, after having missed Xhaka with an intoxicating tunnel, launched a right-footed shot that went into the corner to the left of the innocent Kovar. Dazed by the Nerazzurri's double uppercut, Bayer then tried to get back up, but the reaction between the first and second half was too timid. In fact, Atalanta resisted without too many worries and put the icing on the cake in the 75th minute, with Lookman's left-footed cross that started the Nerazzurri party prematurely. A cup that undoubtedly represents the pinnacle of the extraordinary designer cycle Giampiero Gasperini, who at the end of the match, after enjoying the first crowd of Nerazzurri fans, entrusted his emotions to the microphones of Sky Sport: "We are also in history for the way in which we won. Extraordinary. We repeated what we did against Liverpool, who were first in the Premier League when we played against them, and Sporting Lisbon, who won the Portuguese championship. Now Bayer who swept the Bundesliga in Germany. It is truly a great satisfaction. The boys were extraordinary and had a memorable and wonderful race." Among the winning moves was the attacking trident: “We often play with the trident. All the right conditions were there. It was a final. We only played to win. We also had to have offensive danger, it wasn't enough to defend. We know that these teams are very strong in attack and a little less so when you force them to be on defense. It went well straight away, but the whole match was extraordinary." Bayer's unbeaten run interrupted after 51 matches: "We deserved all this also in terms of the score, beating a team that was certainly strong and we are really happy, because winning the Europa League is a feat." For the Piedmontese coach, this is the first European success: “I don't understand these things. I am no better now than I was this afternoon. Not only did Inter win the Scudetto and Juventus the Italian Cup. Verona and Lecce also won, saving themselves and Bologna going to the Champions League. I believe that everyone has their own objectives and that we needed such a prestigious cup." Glowing too the hero of the evening Ademola Lookman: "I'm really happy. Tonight we all did it together and made history. The trophy will return with us to Bergamo. Incredible. Last season was already excellent. We qualified for Europe and now we have won the trophy together with the coach. It's really cool and we're celebrating tonight."