Super Eagles’ star of the moment, Ademola Lookman was yet among the goals as
Europa League champion Atalanta inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Torino in the Serie A yesterday to perish the hope of AS Roma to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League.
Gianluca Scamacca and Ademola Lookman scored first-half goals for Atalanta and Mario Pasalic added a penalty after the break as the Bergamo side moved up to fourth place, one point ahead of Bologna.
Lookman was coming off a hat trick in Atalanta’s 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final on Wednesday, and the Europa League trophy was on the sideline before kickoff.
Sixth-place Roma, which was playing at Empoli later, needed Atalanta to finish fifth to qualify for the Champions League.
It’s the final round of the Italian league but Atalanta still has a game to make up against Fiorentina next Sunday.
Meanwhile, Lookman and his compatriot, Victor Boniface have both been shortlisted for the Europa League Goal of the Tournament award.
Following the conclusion of the exciting tournament, the UEFA’s Technical Observer panel has picked the top ten most eye-catching goals scored in the 2023-2024 Europa League, with Boniface and Lookman making the cut for their efforts against Qarabag and Bayer Leverkusen respectively.
Bayer Leverkusen secured a convincing 5-1 win over Qarabag on matchday three in Group H, with Boniface scoring the third goal for the German champions.
Boniface increased the lead to 3-1 with a long-range effort into the top corner on 35 minutes.
Lookman became the first player to score a hat trick in a Europa League final as Atalanta thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 to win their first-ever European title, and his second goal is up for the award.
In their bid to win the award, Boniface and Lookman face competition from Marseille’s Gabon international Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who has been double nominated and West Ham United’s Ghana sensation Mohamed Kudus.
Other nominees are João Pedro (Brighton), Darwin Núñez (Liverpool), David Douděra (Slavia Prague), Rafael Leão (AC Milan) and Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen).
Lookman was named Player of the Week for his incredible performance against Bayer Leverkusen, topping the poll ahead of Éderson, Piero Hincapie and Davide Zappacosta.
The Atalanta number 11 has been named in the Europa League Team of the Season after netting five goals in eleven matches.
