Before Wednesday’s Europa League final in Dublin, Gian Piero Gasperini did what he’s been doing with Ademola Lookman all season. That was to point out to the Atalanta winger exactly where he wanted him to attack, and where he could hurt the opposition.
Lookman proceeded to do more damage to Bayer Leverkusen than any player has done to the opposition in any European final since 1975, as the Nigerian scored the first hat-trick in a showpiece in 49 years. It wasn’t just the quantity, either, but the quality. Every goal escalated in class in a different way, reaching a crescendo with that third goal that rose into the top corner.
For a feat of such a scale, Lookman was humble afterwards. He pointed to how Gasperini had “simplified” his game, which allowed the forward to “look at my game in a different light, play my game in a different light”. He certainly shone here. Gasperini beamed about a performance that reflected so well on Lookman but also Atalanta as a club.
“Nobody imagined he could make this much progress,” the manager said. “He wasn’t overly prolific in England. I played him in a slightly more attacking role and this season he’s had a great year. Tonight he achieved something that will remain in the annals of football history.”
It’s even more than that, though. Lookman’s beautiful clarity here came from an uncertainty earlier in his career, which played into frustration about a hugely promising player who wasn’t necessarily living up to his potential.
Stories of unreliability and being hard to work with contrasted with accounts of how he would insist on doing pre-season camps in Croydon with other young players from London. The Wandsworth-born winger enjoyed his football education at Charlton Athletic before drifting between Everton and Leipzig, with unfulfilling loan spells at both Leicester City and Fulham. Lookman was a player who needed direction.
That’s where Gasperini’s “clarity” and “intensity”, as the player himself put it, were so important. Lookman was also intent on changing course, forging a different path. An international switch from England to Nigeria helped, bringing a focus and greater sense of responsibility. It meant he was working with Gasperini at just the right time, ready for take-off.
The surroundings helped. Lookman’s performance is a testament to Atalanta’s recruitment and resourcefulness. While the Nigerian made himself centre stage, that was in part because the club had lost all of Rasmus Hojlund, Jeremie Boga, Luis Muriel, Duvan Zapata and Merih Demiral in the past year.
They were also without Marten de Roon here. None of it mattered. There was no drop-off. There was instead the greatest night in Atalanta’s history, and what Gasperini described as a peak. It was just reward for what has been Serie A’s best-run club for almost a decade.
Gasperini has ensured Atalanta built on their reputation for developing players by adding an almost Brian Clough eye for recruitment, to ensure everyone there has drastically overachieved to become so much more than the sum of their parts. It is vintage stuff, for the modern age. Gasperini marries this admirable approach with true adventure, and an exhilarating willingness to take risks through that man-to-man system. Xabi Alonso spoke of how Bayer Leverkusen prepared for duels but they just couldn’t match Atalanta’s intensity.
There is almost a morality tale to it all, that a gentleman like Gasperini took up in humble fashion. “Winning with Atalanta is one of those footballing fairytales that rarely crop up,” Gasperini said. “It gives scope for meritocracy: there is still scope for ideas and doesn’t have to come down to cold, hard money.”
There was even the reference to the traumatic weeks of 2020 when Bergamo became one of the first places in Europe affected by the Covid pandemic. “We won’t be able to do away with all that pain but we have put a smile on the face of the Bergamasco people.”
That could certainly be seen in Dublin, as there was an image of communion between the players, club and fans. All the staff ran over to Lookman the second the game ended, before spending close to an hour in front of their raucous travelling support.
There were other heartwarming elements on what generally felt like a good night for football. Leverkusen, who already had the reward of a historic German title and could yet win a double, stayed on the pitch to give Atalanta a guard of honour. Just as admirable was how many of their supporters stayed on to watch.
It was the sort of night European football should really be about. A major European trophy was at stake, between two fine teams whose clubs don’t necessarily win that much, meaning all relished the occasion. The occasion was largely untouched by many of the complications and caveats of the modern game. It was so wholesome… so simple.
Lookman brought all of this to a peak, topping off his own personal journey.