Ademola Lookman conjured one of the great individual European final performances to wreck Bayer Leverkusen’s bid for an ‘invincible treble’. The Charlton Athletic academy kid, who scored one goal in three seasons at Everton , smashed a stunning individual hat-trick. Leverkusen and their former Liverpool coach Xabi Alonso slipped up in their second last game of the season - but what chance did they stand against a world beating show from Lookman.
Maybe going unbeaten in a season while also in European competitions really isn’t possible. That was the fantasy which became a dream. Alonso’s men had gone 51 games without defeat but came up against the sparky Italian’s and an inspired performance from Lookman.
Even this Leverkusen side can lose. Especially when up against the brilliance Lookman showed. The 26-year-old graduated to senior football at Charlton, played for England up to under-21 level and figured for Everton, and on loan at Fulham and Leicester .
Kieran McKenna's stance on Chelsea interest emerges ahead of crunch Ipswich talks Watch the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League finals with TNT Sports But he has never had a game like this. Two stunning strikes in the first 26 minutes rocked Leverkusen’s rhythm and ended their hopes of football immortality. Then he added a third to kill the tie with 15 minutes to go.
All crackers. This was Atalanta’s first ever European trophy, won with aggression and hardly giving their opponents a chance. I.