Wednesday, May 22, 2024, 23:11 | Updated 11:19 p.m.
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Every legend has a beginning and an end, but the epilogue of the wonderful story of undefeated Bayer Leverkusen came at the worst moment, in the European final with which they could be one step away from a perfect season never seen before. This time there was no miracle in the form of an impossible comeback against Atalanta, who played the perfect match, the only way to make a rival who seemed impossible to defeat bite the dust.
La Dea’s memorable display in pressing completely denatured the Bundesliga champion, as he nullified Florian Wirtz, his brain, and turned his indecipherable ball circulation into frustrated isolated attempts. Little happened in the final, and everything was in favor of Atalanta, who ate Leverkusen in the individual duels and hit through Lookman’s hammer, a guy touched by a magic wand at the moment of truth.
This is how the duel between two signature teams was resolved, with two blackboard lovers on the benches. When it came to placing the cards on the table, Xabi Alonso was more surprising. He put his traditional daggers on the scene, Frimpong and Grimaldo, although this time with Stanisic as the right back to give the Dutchman total freedom to strike from the right wing. The Spaniard also gave up a classic striker and stayed with Wirtz as a false 9 to surprise La Dea.
Atalanta
Musso, Zappacosta (Hateboer, 84 minutes), Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac (Scalvini, 46 minutes), Ruggeri (Tolói, 91 minutes), Ederson, Koopmeiners, De Ketelaere (Pasalic, 57 minutes), Lookman and Scamacca (Tower, min. 84).
3
–
0
Bayer Leverkusen
Kovar, Stanisic (Boniface, min. 46), Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapié, Grimaldo (Hlozec, min. 68), Palacios (Andrich, min. 68), Xhaka, Frimpong (Tella, min. 81), Wirtz (Schick, min. 81) and Adli.
Goles:
1-0: min. 12, Lookman. 2-0: min. 26, Lookman. 3-0: min. 75, Lookman.
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania). Yellow cards to Djimsiti, Scamacca, Wirtz, Zappacosta, Tapsoba, Koopmeiners and Andrich.
Incidents: Final of the 2023-2024 Europa League, played at the Dublin Arena.
Gian Piero Gasperini was much more predictable, but his Atalanta gave a lesson with suffocating pressure. The remarkable mobility of the German champion was unable to counteract the great obstacle devised by the Italians, who opted to seek the backs of the German defenders using Lookman’s speed, the winning card that no one expected.
Leverkusen was uncomfortable, with the game very close to their control. He could barely get past the center of the field in the face of Atalanta’s Herculean effort to short-circuit his release of the ball. La Dea struck until Zappacosta found the gap on the right side and put it at the far post, where the electric Lookman took advantage of Palacios’ carelessness to overtake the transalpines.
The goal was fuel for Atalanta’s frenetic start, which ate up undefeated Leverkusen in a start that managed to upset the expression of the impassive Xabi Alonso. Only a specific stretch from the Frimpong express, whose service Grimaldo wasted, allowed the German team to breathe, which against all odds maintained its philosophy of going out playing despite the aggressiveness of the rival, who did not hesitate to resort to fouls to stop the opponent’s progression. .
The scenario was complex for the favorite theorist, but it got much uglier after a wonder from Lookman. The Nigerian was excellent with the pipe to Xhaka and a majestic shot, close to the bottom post to turn Kovar into a statue. The confusion continued to be the owner of the team that this season has broken all records for undefeated games, taking its monumental record to 51 games.
The surprise came to number 52 even though this Leverkusen team is used to emerging unscathed from extreme situations of all kinds. The double disadvantage at half-time, after a first round in which Atalanta won practically every duel, forced the aspirin team to take the umpteenth turn of the screw.
Xabi Alonso shook the tree with the entry of a typical forward like Boniface and withdrew Stanisic to delay Frimpong to his usual role as a winger. However, Atalanta’s enthusiasm remained intact. Koopmeiners exemplified that vitality, both in the pressure and the attempted robbery and in joining the attack.
No triplet
At some point the Italians’ physique had to go down completely, but without Wirtz’s compass, completely nullified by the transalpine pressure, Leverkusen had no choice but to resort to long passes and the speed of Frimpong, a handle in the middle. of the storm. Gasperini detected the decline in his team’s energy and reinforced the engine room with the work of Pasalic, a profile radically different from that of the fine but less fierce De Ketelaere.
Xabi Alonso’s team tried to react, but unlike in other epic outcomes, this time they did not give any sensation of being able to get up from the canvas to which Lookman’s punch had taken them. The Nigerian was already the hero of the night in Dublin, but after the two main courses the perfect dessert was served, with the left-footed shot into the net that definitively brought down the undefeated Bayer Leverkusen. There will be no perfect season or triplet, because the designs of a goddess met their path.
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2024-05-22 21:19:59
#Lookman #demolishes #undefeated #Leverkusen
