After 361 days and 51 games, Bayer Leverkusen have seen defeat, losing 3-0 to Atalanta in the Europa League final on Wednesday. It brought an end to the longest unbeaten streak in Europe since the end of World War II and prevented the German club from getting its second trophy of the season. Leverkusen just finished their Bundesliga season with an undefeated record and were two games away from an unbeaten season.
A hat trick from Ademola Lookman set the tone as Leverkusen were not able to rely on their late-game magic as they have so often in the last year. Lookman opened the scoring in only the 12th minute of play throwing Leverkusen’s gameplan off then made them pay again in the 26th minute. He put it away in the last 15 minutes with a rocket left-footed shot from the corner of the box.
While Victor Boniface did enter after halftime to try and bring stability, Atalanta’s swarming defense under manager Gian Piero Gasperini was able to contain him and his teammates, securing their first major trophy since their first and only cup title, winning Coppa Italia in 1963. The title win was also Gasperini’s 200th victory at the Italian club.
It took a formidable performance to knock off Leverkusen, but the chances for more trophies aren’t over for Leverkusen as they’ll still have a chance to win the DFB Pokal title. Leverkusen will face FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday to try and end their season on a high note.
KVSP