Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen Summary
The honeymoon was over, and Bayer Leverkusen was coming back down to earth in the Europa League final after losing to Atalanta. The German side found it difficult to beat La Dea despite dominating the ball possession throughout the game.
Ademola Lookman showed a masterclass performance, completing a hat-trick for Atalanta in a 3-0 win. This is Atalanta’s first-ever Europa League title in the history of the club. What makes it even more special was Gian Piero Gasperini-led squad did it in their first-ever final as well. Here are the Atalanta vs Leverkusen Player Ratings:-
Atalanta Player Ratings
Goalkeeper and defence
Juan Musso (7.3/10)
With Atalanta were under siege most of the time, Musso was one of the busiest players on the pitch, making saves and clearances throughout the game.
Berat Djimsiti (6.7/10)
Ensured that the backline was safe despite being surrounded by Leverkusen player, he was the first player in the game who got booked.
Isak Hien (7.2/10)
The Swedish had to deal with Leverkusen’s in-form forward Victor Boniface for the rest of the game since the break. He made total six attempts to keep the ball away from the net of their end.
Sead Kolasinac (7/10)
Played the first half of the game well with six tackles and two interceptions.
Midfield
Davide Zappacosta (6.6/10)
The man who actively helped Atalanta’s attacking unit, a mastermind of Ademola Lookman’s opening goal by providing the latter an assist.
Ederson (7.3/10)
Showed a composed performance in the midfield, distributing ball here and there to keep the scoreline on their favour.
Teun Koopmeiners (6.7/10)
Caused trouble to Leverkusen with ball distribution, Lookman’s first goal was started from him before delivering it to Zappacosta who made an assist.
Matteo Ruggeri (7.2/10)
Supported Lookman’s in terms of defending and provided the ball for the forward at the same time. He made three successful passes and one cross, not to mention the four duels he won.
Attack
Charles De Ketalaere (7.1/10)
Atalanta relied on him during the first 57 minutes of the game, before coming off in the second half.
Ademola Lookman (9.8/10)
The final could not be scripted better for Lookman as he scored a hat-trick in the European cup final against a team that have never been beaten before for the whole season. .
Gianluca Scamacca (7.2/10)
Contributed positively for Atalanta’s game tonight, providing one assist apart from two shots on target and two key passes.
Substitutions
Giorgio Scalvini (6.9/10)
Replacing Kolasinac since the second half to keep Atalanta from conceding goals.
Mario Pasalic (6.6/10)
He replaced De Ketalaere to maintain the pace upfront which he did, keeping the lead for Atalanta until the final whistle.
Hans Hateboer (6.6/10)
Coming on in the six final minutes to replace Zappacosta.
El Bilal Toure (6.2/10)
Coming on in the six final minutes to replace Scamacca with a hope to bring a surprise upfront but the goal never came from him.
Rafael Toloi (N/A)
Bayer Leverkusen Player Ratings
Goalkeeper and defence
Matej Kovar (6.6/10)
Made four saves despite conceding three during the game, not a result expected from the Czech goalkeeper
Edmond Tapsoba (7/10)
Had to deal with Lookman’s pace, including the one that leads to Atalanta’s third goal.
Jonathan Tah (6.1/10)
Cleared the ball away from the box when needed the most. The captain played the whole game to witness his side’s first loss of the season.
Piero Hincapie (7.3/10)
Have worked so hard to break Atalanta defence which he never did during the game. The Ecuadorian played 90 minutes in the left-hand side of the flank, making six clearances, five tackles, and two interceptions.
Midfield
Granit Xhaka (6.7/10)
The anchor guy has done it again, delivering 91 accurate passes from 133 touches despite failing to help his team gain the second title of the season.
Exequiel Palacios (7.5/10)
Delivered 62 successful passes out of 68 attempts. Palacios was busy wandering the midfield with 88 touches and one key passes for Leverkusen.
Alejandro Grimaldo (6.7/10)
Desperately pushed for a goal but couldn’t make it happen somehow despite delivering one shot on goal.
Josep Stanisic (6.7/10)
Could not find the back of the net throughout the first half, making way for Boniface after the break.
Attack
Florian Wirtz (6.4/10)
Leverkusen’s most reliable player this season couldn’t do much either against Atalanta in the final. He only managed to deliver one shot on target and one key pass which none of them were converted.
Jeremie Frimpong (6.2/10)
Not his best day as the young Dutch winger failed to capitalise the chances to goal.
Amine Adli (6.9/10)
During the 90 minutes of the game, Adli could not make any shots but winning duels and delivering two successful key passes.
Substitutions
Victor Boniface (6.7/10)
The Nigerian could not make a change this time after coming on in the second half. No late-goal from him in this final.
Robert Andrich (6.2/10)
No shots, not a single duel won, no successful long passes from the German in his 22-minute cameo for Leverkusen.
Adan Hlozek (6.8/10)
His shot at the end of the game was a prove that he needs more playing time to show his true quality.
Nathan Tella (6.6/10)
Did not have much time to make a change for Leverkusen in the game.
Patrik Schick (6.6)
Failed to fulfill the expectation of making changes in the second half.
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