“In the Europa League final, held at Dublin Arena, Atalanta created history by clinching a 3-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen, with all three goals credited to Ademola Lookman’s supreme form. Prior to this victorious moment, Atalanta’s only major win had been the Coppa Italia back in 1963. However, they bounced back from a domestic cup defeat against Juventus last week, unleashing a stunning performance that ended Bayer Leverkusen’s season with only one loss out of 52 matches.
Lookman, a Nigerian international born in England and a product of the prestigious Charlton Athletic academy, delivered a match-winning performance. Before his stint in Italy’s Serie A, with stints at Everton, Fulham, and Leicester City shaping his journey, Lookman had emerged as a key player in the pulsating Europa League final.
Leverkusen appeared listless from the beginning, which in effect allowed Atalanta to score their first goal 11 minutes into the game. Lookman manoeuvred himself brilliantly amidst the vibrance of Italian and German fans, to find the back of Matej Kovar’s net with a striker’s finish.
Lookman’s first goal came about after a failed clearance on Leverkusen’s part allowed Isak Hien to take control of a Davide Zappacosta cross. As Lookman moved into the box, a slip from Exequiel Palacios granted Lookman with a clear shot. Lookman’s second goal showcased his individual brilliance, as he dribbled from the left, to curve the ball past Granit Xhaka into the bottom corner.
Although Bayer Leverkusen had a glimmer of hope after La Marca’s correspondent predicted a win if Leverkusen scored before the first half, their best chance was fumbled by the Spanish fullback, Alejandro Grimaldo. Charles De Ketelaere could have extended Atalanta’s lead, but his shot was easily collected by Kovar. Bayer Leverkusen, who looked fatigued, held on for the first half, offering room for their coach Xabi Alonso to bring in Victor Boniface to replace Josip Stanišić.”
In the crucial final minutes of the game, all eyes were on Lookman, who slid into a pass from Gianluca Scamacca, deftly bypassed Edmond Tapsoba, and unleashed a shot that sent a ripple of simultaneous silence and jubilation through the audience at both ends of the pitch.
The nostalgia of the Uefa Cup, what we now know as the Europa League, is deeply etched in the memories of those who hoisted its illustrious trophy and brought it back to their hometowns. Today’s game, bringing together the relatively small clubs of Leverkusen and Bergamo with a combined population shy of 300,000, is a beacon of hope in the football scene currently swept up by the tide of state-owned, hedge fund-run football clubs across Europe.
The plot twists, however, in 2022 when Stephen Pagliuca, an equity investor based in New York and part-owner of NBA team, the Boston Celtics, acquired a majority share in Atalanta. On the other hand, Bayer’s lineage, lying in its title, bypasses Germany’s football law requiring 51% club ownership by fans. Bayer, a pharmaceutical giant, holds this distinct privilege. In a backstory reminiscent of Toyota City in Japan, Leverkusen owes its development to a company with a complex history, including the trade and monetisation of heroin. The struggle to move past this legacy finds honest echo in a German term: vergangenheitsbewältigung.
Drawing from Leverkusen’s football annals, a 1988 story comes to mind – a year of triumph as the team hoisted Uefa’s silver cup. The face-off was a two-leg event, with Espanol propelling a 3-0 lead to Leverkusen’s Ulrich-Haberland stadium. The match took an unexpected turn with South Korea’s Cha Bum-kun’s 81st-minute header pushing the game into extra time followed by a penalty shootout, which Leverkusen emerged victorious from.
Fast forwarding to 14 years later, Leverkusen only managed to qualify for the Champions League after defeating Red Star Belgrade, moving past a group comprising Barcelona, Lyon, and Fenerbahçe, and overriding Juventus, Arsenal, and Deportivo La Coruna in the second round to secure a quarter-final berth.
Michael Ballack played a pivotal role in midfield, leading the team to victories over Liverpool and then Manchester United. However, Real Madrid’s Galacticos, led by Zinedine Zidane’s unforgettable volley, quashed any romantic notions. In an unfortunate turn of events in 2002, Leverkusen experienced a string of near-misses, ending as the runners-up in the German cup final against Schalke 04 and finishing just a single point behind Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund.
“Football doesn’t always reward you the way you deserve,” declared Klaus Toppmöller, the former manager of Leverkusen. The German Cup final in Berlin on Saturday presented a genuine triple threat with the participation of FC Kaiserslautern, a team from the second division.
Regardless of whether it’s a double or a treble, the significance remains the same. Despite their loss in the local cup final, Atalanta now possess a trophy to bring back to Bergamo, marking the first time in over six decades.
Lookman, the London-born player, emerged as the star, thwarting Leverkusen’s pursuit of an unbeaten run.
Atalanta’s team included: Musso; Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac (substituted with Scalvini at the 46th minute); Zappacosta (replaced by Hateboer at the 84th minute), Ederson, Koopmeiners, Ruggeri (Toloi came in at the 90th minute); De Ketelaere (substituted by Pasalic at the 57th minute), Scamacca (Toure came in at the 84th minute), and Lookman.
On Bayer Leverkusen’s side, the players were: Kovar; Stanisic (replaced by Boniface at the 46th minute), Tah, Topsoba, Grimaldo (Hlozek substituted at the 58th minute); Frimpong (Tella entered at the 81st minute), Xhaka, Palacios (Andrich entered the field at the 68th minute), Hincapie; Wirtz (replaced by Schick at the 81st minute), Adli. Romanian referee István Kovács officiated the match.