There was an unlikely answer on Wednesday to the question of who would score the first hat-trick in a men’s European club final since 1975 as Ademola Lookman scored all three goals in Atalanta BC’s 3-0 defeat of Bayer 04 Leverkusen to win the UEFA Europa League title, with each having much to admire.
Stealth in the penalty area, balance on the ball, deft footwork and precise shooting with both feet were factors in a standout performance.
Yet even Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini acknowledged that he was not buying a pure striker when Lookman arrived at the club two years ago.
Photo: Reuters
“He wasn’t overly prolific in England,” Gasperini said of a player who was bought from RB Leipzig, yet had spent the previous two years on loan at Fulham and Leicester City in the Premier League.
Lookman also had been a winger at Everton, yet also slipped through the net there after being allowed out on loan to Leipzig and then sold.
Joining Atalanta at almost 25, Lookman had never scored 10 goals in a season. He has now scored 15 times in each of his two seasons in Italy.
Photo: Reuters
The London-born Nigeria international offered ideas after the game for why he has flourished.
“The unwavering support I get and the love back home from people is unbelievable,” said Lookman, who won a FIFA Under-20 World Cup with England before changing eligibility to play for Nigeria in 2022. “It gives me the motivation to try to inspire myself.”
On Gasperini, a 20-year veteran of coaching at Italian clubs, he said: “The first few conversations I had with him made me look at football a lot different. Made things simpler in my mind, play my game in a different light.”
Photo: AFP
For a former resident of London and Liverpool, Lookman said his new home city “gives me a sense of calmness. It has helped me a lot in terms of my living style.”
Lookman’s family was on the field with him on Wednesday, helping him show off the trophy he helped secure for Atalanta — the club’s first senior title for 61 years.
“I have a lot of love for the people I call family. I owe them a lot,” he said.
Photo: AFP
Atalanta captain Berat Djimsiti said he told Lookman before the game “we need the best version of Ademola.”
“I see it for myself in every training it’s hard to play against him and today was incredible,” Djimsiti said.
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