Europa League Final Player Ratings

Leverkusen’s incredible unbeaten run this season came to a dramatic halt on Wednesday as they were demolished 3-0 in the Europa League Final by Atalanta, with Ademola Lookman scoring a fantastic hat-trick.

The former Everton winger scored two in the first half and then one in the second period, and each of the goals came with its own degree of quality.

Ademola Lookman

Not long after the game started, Lookman ghosted in at the back post, taking advantage of Exequiel Palacios sleeping to side-foot a lovely finish high into the corner.

Right from the get-go, he set the tone for Atalanta’s ridiculous pressing as he gave the Leverkusen defence nightmares all evening long.

For his second goal, Lookman, cheekily nutmegged Granit Xhaka on the edge of the box before whipping an emphatic finish into the bottom right corner.

The best was arguably yet to come, though, as for his hat-trick goal he left Edmond Tapsoba for dead with a lightning-quick stepover before rifling a powerful left-footed strike across the keeper into the top right corner.

Berat Djimsiti

Normally so reliable at the back for Atalanta, Djimsiti didn’t have his best game at the back for La Dea. Granted he wasn’t up against a centre-forward for much of the game which impacted his desire or need to do a lot of defensive work, but he still should have done better considering how dominant Atalanta were.

A passing success rate of 75% is poor considering, for the most part, he had plenty of space to work with at the back. Zero interceptions, zero tackles, one out of four duels won and possession lost 11 times doesn’t paint a pretty picture.

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/news/atalanta-3-0-leverkusen-europa-league-final-player-ratings-as-lookman-stars-b/4837

Author : [email protected] (Martin Macdonald)

Publish date : 2024-05-23 09:43:00

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