Legendary Atalanta: Europa League in the name of Lookman. Gasperini triumph and farewell?

Atalanta, Gasperini: ‘We wrote history, extraordinary boys, memorable performance’

“I think we’ve made history, also for the way we won. We beat Liverpool, Sporting who won their championship, Leverkusen who dominated the Bundesliga. Incredible. The boys were extraordinary, a memorable performance”, the words of Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini after the triumph in the Europa League final.

Atalanta, Gasperini triumph. Does it remain or not remain with the Goddess? The words after the triumph in the Europa League

Gasperini takes Atalanta into history by winning the Europa League. But will the coach remain at Dea next year too? “The future? I’m in the situation where you have a wife with children and you find a beautiful woman. Come on, jokes aside. I have to talk about it with the president, now let’s enjoy the party. This situation will certainly be resolved in the very short term”, the words of Gian Piero Gasperini to Sky. Previously on Rai he had explained: “I grew up in Genoa, in Bergamo they let me work. Never a wrong word said about me. I experimented, I changed. The future? As the president says, sometimes I’m a bit heavy. The truth is that I always want to improve, I have the ambition to always do something more? I have to talk to the president between tomorrow and the day after. Now let’s have a huge party, right? “.

Atalanta, Palladino and Juric like if Gasperini were to leave

Atalanta fans hope that Gasperini stays in Bergamo and the Orobic club will try to convince Gasp to stay. There have been rumors about Napoli’s interest for weeks. In case of farewell, two would be the hot names for the Goddess bench: Ivan Juric (who will leave Torino after excellent work in the last three years) e Raffaele Palladino who has done well in the last two years at the helm of Monza. Both technicians of the ‘Gasperini school’ which would guarantee tactical and working continuity for Atalanta.

Atalanta, Percassi: “Gasperini for life? This victory certainly helps everyone more”

Great pride also for the president Antonio Percassi: “A dream that has come true, how nice to see how much our fans love us… They deserved this achievement. The return to Bergamo will be a great celebration, I think everyone is already in the streets celebrating. After the first two goals I I thought that this time we would have done it, the boys had a great performance. I told Gasperini that we had a great result, I thanked him, with him and all the players we will make history. Winning the Champions League. The great thing is that we are constantly growing.” On Gasperini’s future: “We’ll see each other, I’m calm and serene. Gasp for life? This victory certainly helps everyone more.”

Atalanta, Koopmeiners, ‘history was written against a very strong team’

“We wrote history against a very strong team. They played great. It was a difficult match but we are very happy. I’m really, really excited.” Thus Atalanta midfielder Teun Koopmeiners spoke to Sky Sport after the victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final. “It was a different final than the one against Juventus, who play lower. Today we did better against a very strong opponent”, adds the 26-year-old Dutchman who does not say anything about his future. “I just think about today, now we’re celebrating.”

Atalanta, Lookman: ‘We all did it together, now let’s celebrate’

“I’m very happy, we all did it together and we wrote history. The trophy will come with us to Bergamo, incredible”, explains Atalanta striker Ademola Lookman, author of the hat-trick that decided the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen. “The club is ambitious, last season was good and this year we won. Now let’s celebrate,” adds the 26-year-old Nigerian.

Atalanta, De Roon, ‘I have no words, we must enjoy this cup’

“There are no words. We played a great match, I’m very happy. We deserved it. Maybe tomorrow I will realize what happened. We must enjoy this cup”, underlines Atalanta captain Marten De Roon on Sky Sport’s microphone after the victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final. “Maybe we won’t be able to enter Bergamo for three days, but tomorrow we will be there to celebrate”, adds the Dutchman.

Atalanta makes history and triumphs in the Europa League, Bayer Leverkusen ko with Lookman’s hat-trick

The Goddess is in Heaven. Atalanta becomes the first Italian team to win the Europa League, 25 years after Parma when it was still called the UEFA Cup. The Orobics beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0, on whom they inflicted their first knockout of the season after 51 games without defeat. The final, played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, was decided by a hat-trick from Lookman, who was in doubt until the end and was then preferred to Pasalic, who scored in the 12th, 26th and 76th minutes. Second title in 117 years of history for the Orobic club, after the 1963 Italian Cup. First career trophy for the Nerazzurri coach Gasperini, perhaps on his farewell step, which puts the exclamation point on eight extraordinary years in Bergamo.

Atalanta-Bayer Leverkusen 3-0, Dea wins the Europa League thanks to Loockman

The first thrill of the match arrives in the 5th minute: sudden throw towards Wirtzwho cuts centrally, inserting himself in a dangerous way and without anyone following him, Musso comes out with his punches and anticipates him. At 8′ the reply from the Goddess, cross from the left with Ruggeri, Scamacca enters and looks for a header, the former West Ham player touches the ball but is unable to deflect it towards the goal. Atalanta took the lead in the 12th minute with Lookman.

Gasperini’s team maneuvers well on the right and eventually releases Zappacosta who puts a low ball that cuts the area horizontally. No one comes to the door but Lookman appears at the far post, having escaped Palacios, who scores into an empty net. In the 19th minute the Germans were dangerous, Frimpong runs away to the right and puts it in the middle, looking for a teammate in tow. Grimaldo is well placed but stumbles on the ball, the action continues and leads to a shot by Stanisic, saved by Musso. In the 22nd minute, Djimsiti received a yellow card for a foul on Palacios.

In the 26th minute Atalanta doubled their lead again with Lookman the great protagonist of the evening who scored a goal of rare beauty. At the edge of the area Xhaka jumps with a tunnel, then a look at the goal and the ball is placed in the corner to the left of the goalkeeper, with a right-footed shot. Shortly after the half hour Koopmeiners passes Zappacosta into the area who had cut towards the center, the defense rejects but not free and the ball goes to Scamacca who tries to shoot, but too weak. At 35′ great chance for the Germans, Grimaldo launched towards the goal, with Musso who misses the exit giving him the possibility of a lob, which however he fails: the ball is in the arms of the goalkeeper, almost in disbelief. In the 36th minute a yellow card for Scamacca, who came in hard on Grimaldo. Wirtz arrives and protests in an exaggerated manner and the referee also gives him a yellow card. In the 43rd minute, Scamacca sees De Ketelaere on the opposite flank from midfield on the left. and finds it with a precise outside cut. The Belgian can target his opponent helped by Zappacosta who overlaps and takes away another, centers himself and shoots from the edge: Kovar saves.

At the start of the second half Xabi Alonso plays the Boniface card, Stanisic comes out. Gasperini also changes with Scalvini replacing Kolasinac. At the 4th opportunity for the hat trick: ball recovered in midfield by Koopmeiners on Wirtz and immediate restart, Lookman arrives at the cross aimed in the middle from the left, De Ketelaere in front of the goal is anticipated by a whisker by Hincapie who saves in the corner. In the 12th minute De Ketelaere comes out and Pasalic comes on. Koopmeiners asks Gasperini if ​​he should move forward but the coach tells him no. The Dutchman remains in the middle, the Croatian more advanced.

In the quarter of an hour on a cross from the left touched lightly by Musso, Frimpong can look for a volley on goal but the conclusion is wide. A minute passes and Zappacosta gets a yellow card for a foul on Adli. In the 23rd minute double change for the ‘aspirin’ with Andrich and Hlozek for Palacios and Grimaldo. In the 25th minute, Koopmeiners received a yellow card for stopping Wirtz in midfield.

At 31′ the Goddess scores a hat trick and ends the match with a perfect restart: Scamacca triggers Lookman, the Nigerian skips Tapsoba with a double step and then, just inside the area, he unloads a left-footed cross that is very strong and unstoppable for Kovar. In the 36th minute Xabi Alonso runs out of substitutions: Schick and Tella come on, Wirtz and Frimpong out. In the 38th minute Scamacca and Zappacosta’s match ends, with El Bilal Touré and Hateboer coming on. In the final minutes Atalanta defended themselves with order and after 4 minutes of injury time Gasperini and his boys were able to raise their arms in the Dublin sky and celebrate the deserved triumph together with the 8,000 Bergamo players present at the Aviva Stadium.