The Invincibles became The Invisibles and, after 51 duels undefeated, finally a chink in the armour of Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen. We just never thought it would be Ademola Lookman, once of Charlton in League One, inflicting the mortal wounds in this Europa League final. Three of them, in fact.
Atalanta may have ruined the fairytale that is Alonso and his treble-chasing Bundesliga champions, but there is no shortage of romance when it comes to the Italian underdogs, either.
They had bark and bite and, in Lookman, a player who epitomised the adventure of Gian Piero Gasperini’s brave and brilliant side. His three goals got better as they went, the last after skinning his man with a scissors before producing a dagger of a shot that nearly ripped the net.
Atalanta went on the attack from the off and, not cowed by the warriors who supposedly lay in wait, it was they who were the gladiators. The reward for their daring and Lookman’s killer instinct was the second trophy in the club’s history. The last was a Coppa Italia 61 years ago. This was their fairytale, you see.
Alonso, meanwhile, once spent a summer in Dublin learning English as a teenager. But he was just about lost for words in any language after watching his favourites fail to show.
Atalanta won the Europa League after beating Bayer Leverkusen in Wednesday’s final in Dublin
Ademola Lookman (right) scored a hat-trick as Atalanta beat Bayern Leverkusen 3-0 to win the Europa League
Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso was helpless to stop his side’s unbeaten run come to an abrupt ending
Lookman completed his incredible hat-trick by displaying excellent footwork in the box and smashing his shot into the roof of the net
Leverkusen players cut dejected figures as they were dominated by Atalanta and lost the Europa League final
‘We did not plan on having a bad day, but it was not meant to be,’ he said. ‘We could not cope with many difficult situations that we were preparing because Atalanta demand so much of you. The unbeaten run has come to an end but congratulations to Atalanta, they deserve it, so nothing more to say.’
This does not entirely diminish his and Leverkusen’s wonderful season – far from it – but to remain unbeaten and complete a treble with the German Cup this weekend would have stood alone as truly historic. The last team to win three trophies undefeated in a season was Preston North End in 1889.
Speaking of Preston, that was the level of opponent Lookman was once up against during his early days at Charlton. The winger’s promise took him to Everton but only one Premier League goal in three seasons followed.
To be scoring three on this stage would have been met with astonishment on Merseyside. But how his and his team’s triumph was deserved.
‘It was one of the best nights of my life,’ said the 26-year-old. ‘An amazing performance from the team. We did it, we did it, we did it! We’ve got to celebrate, we made history tonight.’
There were fireworks, flame-throwers and flares in the minutes before kick-off yet, to everyone’s surprise, Leverkusen froze. That was almost literal in the case of Exequiel Palacios, who looked more like one of this city’s many monuments when Lookman stole in on his frozen shoulders to open the scoring in the 12th minute.
Leverkusen offered close to nothing by way of a response and their first meaningful effort was not until the 35th minute, and even that was a timid lob from Alejandro Grimaldo straight into the arms of Juan Musso.
By then, Leverkusen were trailing by two, Lookman helping himself to a second on 26 minutes. The Germans tried to be clever in playing out from the goalkeeper but looked stupid when a stray pass found Lookman, who nutmegged Granit Xhaka and swept into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini let out a roar of joy as his side’s victory was confirmed
Alonso shared an embrace with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin as he received his runners-up medal
Lookman poses with his player of the match award after becoming the first-ever player to score a hat-trick in the Europa League final
Lookman completed his own treble on 76 minutes when ghosting by Edmond Tapsoba and striking horror into the hearts and minds of the Germans who had been so expectant of victory.
And what does this say for next month’s Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund?
As a form guide, to borrow horse-racing logic, if the best team in Germany cannot beat the fifth best team in Italy, what chance do the fifth best team in Germany stand of beating the best team in Spain?
Not that Atalanta and Lookman care. This was their night, their fairytale, their own piece of history.