Invincible Bayer: that’s it! Atalanta and Miranchuk took the Europa League!
Anatoly Romanov May 23, 2024, 00:05 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Lookman’s hat-trick gave the Bergamascos the European Cup.
Miranchuk’s Atalanta is the winner of the Europa League! Gian Piero Gasperini’s team defeated Bayer in the final, which until today was invincible. This is the first trophy in the career of the 66-year-old Bergamasco coach.
Miranchuk started the Europa League final on the bench and Atalanta started with the wildest personal pressure. This, of course, is not the Russian midfielder’s strongest side, so it is logical that Bergamasco coach Gasperini relied on others in the attacking group. Ahead of Atalanta was the Lookman – De Ketelare – Scamacca trio. Obviously Bayer is not used to playing against rivals with this style. Leverkusen could not take over the opponent’s midfield, control the ball there and combine.
Furthermore, Atalanta took advantage of the first opportunity in the 12th minute. After a set piece and a rebound, Zappacosta entered the German champion’s area from the right and shot across the goal. The goal would not have occurred if center back Palacios had not failed in Lookman’s strong play. The Nigerian skillfully sent the ball into the goal of Czech Kovar, Bayer’s substitute goalkeeper, but the Europa League’s main goalkeeper.
At that time, Atalanta was more than twice as many as Bayer in the number of accurate passes in the opposition third. Leverkusen suffered pressure from the fifth team in Serie A: the Bergamascos won most of the duels. For the first time, Xabi Alonso’s team only managed to score halfway through the first half, and even in that episode the ball, after Stanisic’s shot from outside the area and the rebound, flew, as they say, bloody towards the goalkeeper . Musso.
How Gasperini failed at the best club in Italy:
The main failure in the career of the Atalanta coach. Few people remember Gasperini’s work in the best club.
Bayer won with Adli, but this became a problem: the German champions lacked big forwards up front. Furthermore, in the 26th minute the Moroccan co-authored an own goal. He dropped the ball badly from midfield to Lookman. The Nigerian, who was playing the “game of his life”, beat Xhaka with surprising ease and shot from the semicircle towards the far post. Beauty! And the experienced Xhaka generally had an unsuccessful game: 17 turnovers in the first 45 minutes alone (the worst indicator by far for both teams). Bayer looked confused. Only before the break did things start to click for Leverkusen, but Xabi Alonso still lost this half directly to Gasperini.
For any team, Atalanta’s 0-2 before the second half would have been a death sentence. But Bayer has already recovered from this result so many times that a miracle is always expected from them. He really wanted the intrigue to last until the last minutes. After all, the new German champion is the king of the finals and the Bergamascos should have tired of their energy-consuming football.
After the break, Xabi Alonso released the team’s top scorer in the Bundesliga, striker Boniface, and after another 20 minutes he added the Czech Glozek to the attack line. He took defenders out of the game, including the best assistant Grimaldo, who did not make a single pass under attack in the Europa League final. But Atalanta maintained its intensity and Bayer, with a double advantage in possession, did not even have a shot on goal. Looking at the teams, it was difficult to believe that it was not the Bergamascos who went the entire season without losing, but Leverkusen.
All Bayer’s hopes of another charming finish were shattered by Lookman, who was simultaneously possessed by Messi and Ronaldo on the day of the Europa League final. What was Miranchuk’s competitor doing? A quarter of an hour before the end of regulation time, the Nigerian, in a quick response attack, faced Tapsoba one-on-one and scored a hat-trick. Kovar missed the ball in the center.
Gasperini and his team showed in Dublin that the impossible is possible: they were the first to defeat Bayer this season. Atalanta broke Leverkusen’s streak of 51 games without losing (42 wins, nine draws). In the end, the German champion no longer believed in his magic and did not even score a goal. Bayer lost to Atalanta in shots on goal 3:7.
It is a pity that Miranchkuk did not participate in this Bergamasco victory: the Russian remained on the bench until the final whistle of referee Kovacs.
