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Europa League: Atalanta triumphs with three goals from Lookman that knock out Bayer Leverkusen. Gasperini's masterpiece

La Dea wins its first international cup in spectacular fashion thanks to Gasperini's spectacular attacking football and Lookman's magical evening who beats the Germans three times. Thanks to Atalanta's victory, Roma may also go to the Champions League

Europa League: Atalanta triumphs with three goals from Lookman that knock out Bayer Leverkusen. Gasperini's masterpiece

Absolute triumph. That of theAtalanta It is not a simple victory, but a real solo that has literally Bayer Leverkusen destroyed and delivered an unforgettable night to Bergamo. The company, because that is what it is, does not have just one face: from Percassi to Gasperini, through managers and players, the Goddess' Europa League is a mosaic set with gems, with Dublin destined to remain indelible. The whole of Italy rejoices, both for a competition that has been missing since 1999 (Malesani's Parma, it was still called the UEFA Cup) and for the possibility of bringing even six teams into the next Champions League, provided, however, that the Nerazzurri do not go beyond fifth place in the standings: in that case it would be Roma, already certain of sixth, who would celebrate.

Atalanta – Bayer Leverkusen 3-0, Lookman's hat-trick gives the Europa League to Bergamo

The Germans of Xabi Alonso they seemed invincible and actually were, at least until yesterday. On the certainties (and, perhaps, a thread of presumption) of Leverkusen, unbeaten in 51 games in a row (absolute record in the history of football), the cyclone hit instead Atalanta and the German champions had to bow. It seems incredible, but the final in Dublin has never had history, not even for a few minutes. Gasperini, in defiance of those who considered him good only for capital gains, prepared a perfect match, deploying an ultra-attacking 3-4-3 with De Ketelaere, Scamacca and Lookman in attack. Risky move? No, because the only way to beat Leverkusen was to attack them and take away their own weapons. Obviously the players' interpretation made the difference, given that all the protagonists, including the substitutes, played a simply monstrous match.

It ends up on the cover Lookman, author of a splendid triplet destined to remain in history (and not just Atalanta), but the list of the "best on the pitch" is very long, so much so that it becomes difficult to draw up rankings. Ederson e koopmeiners, for example, seemed to have the engine in their legs, as well as Chess e The Ketelaere (match of great sacrifice, as well as quality), without forgetting Hien, Kolasinac e Scalvini, who ridiculed Bayer's attackers. A perfect night, in short, in which Lookman's talent was raised: all his goals in the match, starting from the first which broke the balance (12'), up to the two jewels (26' and 75') which rounded the score. German opportunities? Few and irrelevant, so much so that Musso was almost reduced to an extra, demonstrating his absolute dominance under the Irish sky. Now it's time to celebrate, after which the Gasperini issue will be addressed, whose permanence is far from certain: will the coach choose to continue his work in Bergamo or will he take the opportunity for a new challenge?

Percassi: “A dream dedicated to our fans. Gasperini for life? We'll see each other, but I'm calm."

“A dream that has come true, how nice to see how much our fans love us… They deserved this achievement – ​​he rejoiced Antonio Perassi with shining eyes. The return to Bergamo will be a big party, I think everyone is already out on the streets celebrating. After the first two goals I thought that this time we would have done it, the boys had a great game. I told Gasperini that we achieved a great result, I thanked him, with him and all the players we are making history. The future? We'll see each other soon, but I'm calm and serene. Gasp for life? This victory certainly helps everyone more."

Gasperini: “Extraordinary victory! My future? Now let's enjoy the feat..."

“We won in an extraordinary way – he underlined Gasperini -. We beat teams like Liverpool, Sporting Lisbon, Bayer Leverkusen, German champions... These are great satisfactions, the boys were incredible, it was a memorable performance. The trident? We play each other often, we only had one result available and we needed to be dangerous on an offensive level, not just defend well: these are strong teams when they attack, less so if you force them to defend. My first trophy? I don't think I'm better now than I was before the game. It's not just the titles, this year for example Bologna also won for the championship they achieved, Verona and Lecce won and were saved... We certainly needed such a prestigious cup. My future? In the meantime, let's enjoy this victory, I don't know what will happen next year. This company has always grown in results and has done so while maintaining balance in its accounts, I think it is extraordinary. Usually in Italy those who win, and we have seen it in recent days, struggle to control costs... Atalanta managed to combine the two things, I think it is exceptional."

The players: “Other than the Italian Cup, we made history!”

“I'm very happy, we all made history together – he exclaimed Lookman, hero par excellence of the challenge -. The cup will return with us to Bergamo. Last season we qualified for Europe, now we have won a trophy and done a great job with Gasperini." “It's all wonderful, we still had a bad taste in our mouths from the Italian Cup final lost against Juventus, but I would have signed up to lose in Rome to triumph here – he continued Chess -. I still don't believe it, last year I won the Conference League. A dream comes true, by the law of large numbers Bayer Leverkusen had to lose a match, now it's time to do well in the European Championship against Italy too." We wrote history against a very strong team, we are too happy – he concluded koopmeiners -. There's a lot of emotion! Compared to the Italian Cup we knew it was different: against Juventus it was difficult after the 1-0, they defended very low. The future? We will see…".

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