The Nigeria international scored a brace within 26 minutes of the game while netting a third in the second half to end Xabi Alonso’s side’s dreams of winning an unbeaten treble in the 2023-24 season. Lookman in the process became the first-ever African player to score a hat-trick in a European final and only the second player after Jupp Heynckes in 1975 to score three times in a Europa League/UEFA Cup final.
The 26-year-old former Fulham player left his fans mesmerized as they took to social media to hail the Atalanta star.
A user named BG wrote on X: “Lookman hattrick on Leverkusen’s head. Bro lost AFCON and Copa Italia final and said ‘that’s enough’.”
A fan named George shared a clip from his Fulham days where the attacker missed a penalty while attempting a Panenka to show how far he has come since then as he wrote: “In 2020, Ademola Lookman failed a ‘Panenka’ penalty for Fulham with his team down 3-2 in the 98th minute… 4 years on, and he’s the FIRST Player to score a hat-trick in a Europa League Final. Incredible.”
This fan named Lerry hailed Lookman for becoming the first-ever African footballer to score a hat-trick in a UEFA competition final as he wrote: “The first EVER African Player to score Hattrick in the Final of a major UEFA Competition. Ademola Lookman!”
A fan with the username Mugborn5 took a dig at Bayern Munich star Harry Kane as he wrote: “Ademola Lookman now has more trophies than Harry Kane.”
While Leverkusen’s incredible unbeaten run this season came to an end disastrously, the night turned out to be a memorable one for Atalanta’s 66-year-old manager Gian Piero Gasperini, who won his first-ever trophy after serving as a coach for more than two decades.
The Werkself will aim to end their season with a second trophy on Saturday as they take on FCK in the DFB-Pokal final.
