Europa League: Killing look

Dublin, May 23

Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman was unstoppable and Bayer Leverkusen’s impossible dream of completing an entire season unbeaten with a hat-trick of titles proved nobody is perfect.

Lookman was the hat-trick hero in Atalanta’s 3-0 win over Leverkusen in the Europa League final on Wednesday. It was a beating few saw coming for the new German champions whose European record unbeaten run was stopped at 51 games by a team that had won 3-0 in Liverpool in the quarterfinals.

Lookman, the London-born Nigeria international, was ruthless punishing big errors by Leverkusen players to score twice in the first 26 minutes of a game where the favourites never looked at ease. He capped his solo show with an arrowing shot in the 75th. “It’s one of the best nights of my life,” said the 26-year-old Lookman, who was loaned out and then sold by both Everton and Leipzig before finding the club that fully appreciated him.

Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso must now lift his players for the German Cup final on Saturday. — AP