Bayer Leverkusen’s 51-Game Unbeaten Run Ends in Europa League Final
An Ademola Lookman hat trick downed Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final on Wednesday as their unbeaten came to an end. The final played in Dublin was Atalanta’s first-ever European final appearance, and they performed in their maiden year admirably to bring the trophy to Bergamo.
Ademola Lookman made history when he became the first player to bag three goals in a Europa League final. The former Everton and RB Leipzig man produced a man-of-the-match performance to award Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini his first trophy in his career and the oldest manager to win the Europa League after Jose Luis Mendilibar won last year’s edition with Sevilla.
Leverkusen’s tactic of pressing from the front was nullified by Gasperini’s men, causing Alono’s side to make an uncomfortable start to the match. Their discomfort became apparent when Lookman bagged his first goal of the night after Exequiel Palacios was caught napping at the back post to give Atalanta the lead. Another Leverkusen error led to the second goal when a stray pass fell at the feet of the Nigerian yet again, curling it around Kovár in goal to make it a brace on the night.
Leverkusen had spells in possession but never looked like scoring. The German side’s reputation to make comeback late in games meant Atalanta couldn’t rest on their laurels, but the match was put to bed when Lookman tucked away his third and a hat trick to bring home Atalanta’s first major trophy for the first time in more than 60 years.
Atalanta’s rise in the last seven to eight years hasn’t gone under the radar, especially after their Champions League run in 2020 when they reached the quarternfinals, eliminated by PSG in the one-game knockout system due to the pandemic. Yet, they have reached the pinnacle after victory in Dublin. Their run to glory featured emphatic quarter-final and semi-final wins over Liverpool and Marseille respectively.
Gasperini reiterated that their journey to the Europa League trophy makes the celebrations more special.
“That was perhaps our peak in recent years,” Gasperin said. “We’ve won it against top teams. We beat Sporting, who are the Portuguese champions. We played Liverpool when they were top of the Premier League. We played Marseille who are a very good side, and tonight we beat the German champions. To have beaten such great sides adds gloss to our achievement.”
Lookman, who came through the ranks at Charlton Athletic said that his form in recent years has elevated, capped off by tonight’s performance.
“These past two years I’ve been able to take my game to a whole new level,” Lookman added. “Maybe it could have come earlier, but it has come now. But this is just the beginning. I hope for more nights like this and to just keep getting better and better.”
This loss stopped the clock on Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak that stretched back to May of 2023 when they lost 3-0 against VFL Bochum in the Bundesliga. Leverkusen were seeking their first European Cup for the first time since 1988 when they won the UEFA Cup, which is now the Europa League.
They claimed their first-ever German title in style, going the season unbeaten and were on course for a historic treble before Atalanta intervened. They still can make history by completing an unbeaten double when they face second-tier Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final in Berlin.
“Normally it happens earlier in the season, but when it happens in such a big game, it hurts. But we have to use this pain in a positive way — it’s football, the normality is not to lose the first game in the 52nd game,” Alonso added.