Atalanta-Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 LIVE for the Europa League final
Teun Koopmeiners
GOL
At 12′ ATALANTA-Bayer Leverkusen 1-0! Ademola Network LOOKMAN! Insistent action by the Nerazzurri who arrive at the cross with Zappacosta, the ball crosses the entire penalty area and lands at the feet of Lookman who, with the net practically empty, makes no mistake.
EVE
It is not an obsession, but after the lost final in Rome, it is the most recurrent and impertinent question that precedes the meeting in Dublin, where, if Atalanta dreams of its first international trophy in its 117 years of history, Gian Piero Gasperini is chasing that medal that he has missed so far in a career full of acclaim and capital gains, but still stuck at zero titles.
At 66 years of age, winning at the Aviva Stadium against the battleship Bayer Leverkusen would mean becoming the oldest coach ever to lift a UEFA cup, specifically the Europa League, for ‘Gasp’. Well-deserved award for an innovative and visionary technician, according to some; obligatory confirmation to give value to his eight years on the Orobic bench, according to others. It would certainly be the ideal way for that summer farewell, which seems increasingly likely on the streets of Bergamo. “They say that the right moment is when you win, so that you don’t lose consideration – Gasperini’s comment on the matter today -. But we never think about when we leave, we live in the present more than in the future”.
For further information Agenzia ANSA Europa League, Gasperini: ‘Leverkusen are a great team, but we have no alibi’ – Football – Ansa.it The final on Wednesday. Goddess Technician: ‘Too bad for De Roon’ (ANSA)
A load of extra pressure that on the eve of the most important match of his career (by his own admission), Gasperini tried to defuse: “I don’t think that winning a cup is necessarily always part of the parameters by which success is judged. Everyone has the own goals. When you manage to achieve many of them, as has happened to Atalanta in recent years, you must still be satisfied. Obviously, if we manage to add a cup, we will be even happier.” The reference is to the four Champions League qualifiers in the last six seasons, the last of which mathematically obtained four days ago, thanks to Lecce’s victory. Three points brought about by the goals of Charles De Ketelaere and Gianluca Scamacca, greatly missed in the Coppa Italia defeat against Juventus. The Belgian playmaker stumbled upon a dark evening like when he wore the Milan shirt; Italy’s top center forward – already six goals in Europe this year – absent due to suspension. From their feet, and from those of Ademola Lookman and Teun Koopmeiners, the Nerazzurri’s chances of glory in the Europa League final will pass. “But against Leverkusen who are a very well organized team – underlines Gasperini – we will have to give a very precise, careful performance, we too will have to have great precision as an organisation”.
The Goddess will be supported in the Irish capital by eight thousand fans, many of whom are forced to make unlikely stopovers (Tallinn, Lisbon, Palma de Majorca) to reach Ireland, due to the shortage of direct flights. “It’s a special moment for the whole city, and we feel it. We know that the wait is enormous, and we are the first to want to give something important to Bergamo, also for what it has gone through in the years of the pandemic”, the words of Gasperini, who will have to do without his captain Marten De Roon, stopped by an adductor problem (“personally I am disappointed by De Roon’s absence – comments Gasperini -, for the player’s value on the pitch and because he deserved a final: he given so much to Atalanta, sorry to have to lose the most important match”), but who will find (probably from the first minute) Sead Kolasinac. An essential return for a defensive line that will be called to overtime.
“The results speak for Leverkusen, who have achieved something extraordinary in their country. They are a very solid team, who play compactly, with a lot of pace and technique in attack. But we don’t lack a bit of self-esteem , and we have qualities that can put them in difficulty.” As managed for more than an hour of play against Roma, defeated in the semi-final, who will support the Nerazzurri: in the case of Bergamo’s triumph, and Atalanta’s fifth place in the league, Daniele De Rossi’s Giallorossi would enter the next Champions League as sixth in the league .
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2024-05-22 19:29:46
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