Who else than African?!For nine months and 51 games, Bayer Leverkusen were Europe’s most ruthless side, simply not willing to surrender, ever – and then came Lookman!The impeccable Nigerian forward scored a jaw-dropping hat-trick for Atalanta on Wednesday night in the UEFA Europa League final in Dublin, helping his side to destroy the rival and clinch a much-deserved continental trophy, the first in their entire history.Will he be taking the match ball home? 👀#UELfinal pic.twitter.com/OKv5bxw790— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) May 22, 2024 Awkwardly enough, the fact the Goddess put its hand on a UEL trophy is probably not news as much as that we’ve seen the end of Bayer Leverkusen’s staggering streak. In the season’s penultimate game, the Germans lost their first match across all three competitions (Bundesliga, Europa League, German Cup), thus failing to establish themselves as the first-ever truly Invincibles.Although the majority of football fans around the world were sure Xabi Alonso would brush aside Gian Piero Gasperini’s slot in the Dublin showdown to put his name among those immortals, we saw an entirely different outcome than expected.Atalanta’s high press stunned the rivals, who were below-par in the first half on offence. Things didn’t work out for the new Bundesliga champions in defence, either. Magnificent and inspired Lookman exploited all their flaws to, firstly, open the scoring 12 minutes into the game, before doubling the lead 14 minutes later.WHAT A GOAL, LOOKMAN SCORES AGAIN🤯🤯🤯Will Leverkusen FINALLY LOSE?!🤯😲 pic.twitter.com/5bJXW4ccRE— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) May 22, 2024 Pale, confused and disoriented, Leverkusen couldn’t create a single goal-scoring opportunity before the break, which prompted the Spanish tactician to put Lookman’s compatriot, Victor Boniface, upfront straight after the break.A two-nil lead is the most dangerous one… they are the Germans and they always bounce back and play until the very last second… it’s Xabi Alonso at the helm of that side and that guy never surrenders…That was going through our minds during the interval, but instead of some sort of Bayer’s unstoppable comeback, all we’ve been given from the Bundesliga champs were sloppy attempts to peg at least one back and, with it, pour in some suspense to this showdown.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Frimpong’s volley around the 60th-minute mark, though, promised at least some sort of response from Europe’s until-tonight unbreakable army.Xabi Alonso opted for a double substitution, desperately trying to shake things up a bit with Hlozek and Andrich coming on for the deplorable duo of Grimaldo and Palacios.Instead of some sort of riposte, all the Germans got from it was another goal – in the back of their net. Ademola, again!The 26-year-old Super Eeagle fired superbly for the third team to seal this absolutely perfect performance of his with this stunning hat-trick!GOALAdemola Lookman hat-trick 🔥 Atalanta 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen #JoySports pic.twitter.com/KcI9XkpjGe— #JoySports (@JoySportsGH) May 22, 2024 Every shooting star has its charm and beauty, but also longevity… and Leverkusen’s one lasted for a whole lot of time. Before the African magician made it fade in the unforgettable Dublin night.UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE – FINALAtalanta – Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 (2-0)/Lookman 12, 26, 75/
