Ademola Lookman scored a sensational hat-trick as Atalanta secured the 2023-24 Europa League title after defeating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 on Wednesday evening.
The Bergamo side become the first Italian team to win the competition since Parma beat Marseille in the 1999 showpiece.
Atalanta took the lead inside the opening 12 minutes after Davide Zappacosta squared the ball inside the penalty box to Ademola Lookman, who put the ball in the back of the net with a composed finish.
Lookman then doubled his side’s lead with his second goal of the game, finding the bottom left-hand corner with a wonderful finish from outside the 18-yard box.
The 26-year-old then completed his hat-trick in the 75th-minute after firing a superb effort past Leverkusen goalkeeper Matej Kovar.
The victory for the Italian side marks an impressive European campaign. On their route to the trophy, they defeated Liverpool across two legs in the quarter-finals, while they defeated French club Marseille in the semi-finals of the tournament.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side had already all but effectively qualified for next season’s Champions League, but the win against Leverkusen has officially confirmed that they will play in Europe’s elite competition in 2024-25.
Atalanta are fifth in the Serie A rankings and three points ahead of Roma, with a game in hand and goal difference in their favour.
The defeat for Leverkusen, meanwhile, ends their impressive unbeaten run across all competitions.
Having gone through an entire Bundesliga campaign undefeated, Leverkusen had not been beaten in 51 matches prior to Wednesday’s contest. They can still lift the German Cup final this Saturday, should they defeat second-tier Kaiserslautern.
