Atalanta did the impossible, the improbable and the never seen before. Not only did they defeat Bayer Leverkusen, the team that had not lost this season and had gone 51 games without bending the knee, but they beat them against all odds 3-0 to win their first European title. Starting today, the Europa League will accompany the Coppa Italia that the Bergamo team won in 1963 and which was the only title in its history.
The spectacular performance of the Italian team left the football world speechless, due to the form, the result and the rival. From Bergamo to Olympus, after beating Liverpool and O. Marseille before Bayer. The goddess was able to defeat everyone with her total football.
Atalanta, nicknamed La Dea (the goddess in Italian), was perfect, brilliant, magnificent and splendid during the 90 minutes. Led in attack by Ademola Lookman, for whom everything worked out, who played the final of his dreams. The Anglo-Nigerian shot three times and scored three goals. Lookman, a wonder boy who debuted at Everton, a teenager for whom Leipzig paid a million even though he had played very little in the Premier, pulled a huge game out of his hat at the age of 26 to overthrow the legend of the unbeatable Bayer. He scored the three goals of the Italian team that played him back so he could reconcile with football.
He opened the scoring with an opportunistic goal by finishing a Zappacosta cross at the far post and then sealed the final in Dublin with two tremendous goals, each one better. The second with a thread from the front after making a tunnel to Xhaka. In the third, already in the second half, he made a bicycle inside the area to launch an unstoppable left foot shot for Kovar. Three goals that made him come out on his shoulders and that tilted the duel overwhelmingly.
In the finals it matters little, very little, who is the favorite first. It didn’t help Bayer Leverkusen even to present their undefeated banner. The name and the Bundesliga won so brilliantly had no weight. Atalanta, irreverent and disrespectful, rebelled against its role as a guest and spoiled the party for the German champion. With suffocating pressure, they took over the game and left the trendy team without a response.
Xabi Alonso’s team played the worst game at the worst time, with half of Europe watching, in the final in Dublin. And he behaved like this because he had Atalanta in front of him, a team like few others, capable of putting pressure on men all over the field, and for which, what’s more, everything turned out perfectly. He scored early, immediately scored the second after a recovery and finished off the counterattack.
Gian Piero Gasperini has been working in Bergamo for eight years, sculpting and giving shape to his lifelong Renaissance work. Meticulous, almost like a goldsmith, every week he insists on his precepts to improve the performance of his total and extremely high-pressure football.
By not giving up and taking risks, he has transformed a team of remnants, of young people, of footballers looking for a second chance like Zappacosta (former Chelsea), Kolasinac (former Arsenal) or De Ketelaere (who did not succeed at Milan) and personal bets, like Koopmeiners or Éderson, the two midfielders who were excellent, in champion.
It helped Atalanta that Xabi Alonso decided to leave without a nine. Schick and Boniface stayed on the bench – also a Borja Iglesias who has counted for very little – while little Adli was the most advanced player. That even made the center backs of the Bergamo team be more daring than they already are to take one or two steps forward.
When the player from Tolosa reacted at half-time, they were already losing 2-0. With Boniface on the field, Bayer did push hard and turned to the famous epic that has accompanied them all season and had saved them with several incredible comebacks. But Atalanta seemed covered and protected by a mantle of. He never got nervous, he broke the rival’s streak in 51 games and won the Europa League his way, faithful to his coach.
