Spoiler alert.
Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman was unstoppable and Bayer Leverkusen’s unimaginable dream of finishing a whole season unbeaten with a hat trick of titles proved to be simply that.
As an alternative, Lookman was the hat trick hero in Atalanta’s 3-0 win over Leverkusen within the Europa League remaining on Wednesday.
It was a beating few noticed coming for the brand new German champion whose European document unbeaten run was stopped at 51 video games by a staff that had received 3-0 in Liverpool within the quarterfinals.
Lookman, the London-born Nigeria worldwide, was ruthless punishing large errors by Leverkusen gamers to attain twice within the first 26 minutes of a sport the place the favorites by no means checked out ease. He capped his solo present with an arrowing shot within the seventy fifth.
In any regular season, or a typical European remaining, Atalanta and its veteran coach Gian Piero Gasperini could be a feel-good soccer story.
What’s to not love for impartial followers within the big-money Tremendous League period? A well-run membership from a small provincial metropolis taking part in enticing soccer on a modest price range for a loyal coach to raise its first top-level trophy for 61 years.
As an alternative, it fell to Atalanta to play the unhealthy man and cease Leverkusen’s shot at European soccer immortality.
Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso should now raise his gamers for the German Cup remaining on Saturday. They’ll begin as heavy favourite to beat second-tier Kaiserslautern within the Olympic Stadium, Berlin.
Because the minutes ticked down in Dublin, Alonso lastly watched his staff lose standing nonetheless and alone in entrance of the staff dugout. He alternated between pushing his arms deep within the pockets of his slim-fit black denims, then folding his arms.
Just a few meters away, a sprightly 66-year-old Gasperini — his black jacket zipped excessive towards the night chill — was dancing along with his gamers and workers in anticipation of the ultimate whistle.
Alonso’s wide range name Wednesday was to choose Exequiel Palacios in midfield, over Robert Andrich, however the 2022 World Cup winner with Argentina was at fault for the opening purpose.
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Palacios, defending the far submit, was totally unaware of Lookman behind him when a ball throughout the goalmouth from Davide Zappacosta eluded everybody. Lookman darted in on Palacios’ blind facet to attain with a rising shot.
It was 2-0 within the twenty sixth when Leverkusen but once more gave away the ball within the coronary heart of its personal half. Amine Adli’s aimless header again towards his personal protection bounced to Lookman.
The previous Everton participant eluded Granit Xhaka’s deal with and curled his right-footed shot into the nook of the online past goalkeeper Matěj Kovář diving to his left.
It was the fourth time Leverkusen had trailed 2-0 in a Europa League knockout spherical sport since March however its unbeaten run had by no means appeared extra in danger. The season-long flurry of late and stoppage-time targets eluded Leverkusen this time.
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Even earlier than the Atalanta targets, followers from Bergamo — outnumbered about 12,000 to 9,000 by Leverkusen’s within the 48,000 crowd — largely outsang their German counterparts on an overcast and breezy night within the Irish capital.
The gamers responded with bodily dedication from the opening minutes, harassing Leverkusen out of its sometimes elegant model with tight marking.
Leverkusen repeatedly gifted Atalanta the ball in its personal half and created little. When scoring probabilities did come, Álex Grimaldo lobbed the ball weakly into the arms of goalkeeper Juan Musso who had superior off his line, and Jeremie Frimpong’s volleyed shot went excessive over the purpose.
Reporting by The Related Press.
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