ANKARA
Atalanta beat Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 to win the 2024 UEFA Europa League title Wednesday as the Italian football club clinched their first-ever European trophy.
Atalanta drew first blood at Dublin Arena as their Nigerian winger Ademola Lookman scored the opener from close range in the 12th minute.
In the 26th minute, Atalanta doubled their lead to gain momentum in the final as Lookman fired a low shot from the edge of the penalty area to beat Leverkusen goalkeeper Matej Kovar.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s men did not let Leverkusen build attacks.
Lookman was on the scoresheet again as the 26-year-old scored on a counter-attack via a powerful strike in the 75th minute.
He became the first player to score a hat-trick in a Europa League/UEFA Cup final since Germany’s Jupp Heynckes in the 1975 final for Borussia Monchengladbach.
Introduced in 1971, Europe’s second-tier UEFA Cup was rebranded the UEFA Europa League in 2009.
Atalanta, a club from Bergamo, Italy, secured victory in their first UEFA final.
They also ended German Bundesliga winners Leverkusen’s 51-game unbeaten run.
