There was an unlikely answer to the question of who would score the first hat trick in a men's European club final since 1975. (More Football News)
Ademola Lookman scored all three goals in Atalanta's 3-0 beating of Bayer Leverkusen to win the Europa League title and each had much to admire.
Stealth in the penalty area, balance on the ball, deft footwork, and precise shooting with both feet were factors in a standout performance.
And yet even Atalanta coach, Gian Piero Gasperini, acknowledged he was not buying a pure striker when Lookman arrived at the club two years ago.
바카라He wasn't overly prolific in England,바카라 Gasperini said of a player who was bought from Leipzig, yet had spent the previous two years on loan at Fulham and Leicester in the Premier League.
Lookman also had been a winger at Everton, yet also slipped through the net there after being allowed out on loan to Leipzig and then sold.
Joining Atalanta at almost 25, Lookman had never scored 10 goals in a season. He has now scored 15 times in each of his two seasons in Italy.
The London-born Nigeria international offered a hat trick of ideas after the game for why he has flourished.
Love and support from his family and African home. The trust he felt from Gasperini's managing. The calmness of life in the picturesque city of Bergamo.
바카라The unwavering support I get and the love back home from people is unbelievable,바카라 said Lookman, who won an Under-20 World Cup with England before changing eligibility to play for Nigeria in 2022. 바카라It gives me the motivation to try to inspire myself.바카라
On Gasperini, a 20-year veteran of coaching at Italian clubs, he said: 바카라The first few conversations I had with him made me look at football a lot different. Made things simpler in my mind, play my game in a different light.바카라
For a former resident of London and Liverpool, Lookman said his new home city 바카라gives me a sense of calmness. It has helped me a lot in terms of my living style.바카라
Lookman's family was on the field with him Wednesday, helping him show off the trophy he helped secure for Atalanta 바카라 the club's first senior title for 61 years.
바카라I have a lot of love for the people I call family. I owe them a lot,바카라 he said.
Atalanta captain Berat Djimsiti said he told Lookman before the game 바카라we need the best version of Ademola.바카라
바카라I see it for myself in every training it's hard to play against him," Djimsiti said, 바카라and today was incredible."
Atalanta will be in the Champions League next season and should have Lookman for a full season. He was away with Nigeria through January for the African Cup of Nations.
바카라He has had a great year, albeit it was interrupted by Afcon,바카라 Gasperini said. 바카라He was gone for a long while.바카라
Now Lookman enters European soccer history as the first hat trick scorer in a club final since Jupp Heynckes for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1975 UEFA Cup. That came in a 5-1 win over Twente in the return game of what was then a two-leg final.
Among the few men who have scored hat tricks in European finals are Real Madrid greats Ferenc Puskás and Alfredo di Stefano, more than 60 years ago.
Now on that storied list Lookman, Gasperini said, 바카라has established himself as a matchwinner.바카라
