It took just five blistering minutes in Frankfurt to remind Europe why Ademola Lookman is still one of the most exciting attackers Nigeria has ever produced.
Atalanta arrived at Deutsche Bank Park with a side struggling for rhythm and left with a 3–0 statement that owed everything to the Super Eagles forward rediscovering his scoring touch.
Ademola Lookman inspires Atalanta’s 3–0 breakthrough
Lookman’s season had drifted quietly into frustration: a trickle of appearances, an occasional threat, but precious little end product.
He hadn’t scored since late October, with seven games gone for both club and country, his confidence appearing to flicker rather than burn.
Yet when the second half began on Wednesday night, the 28-year-old suddenly looked like a player reconnecting with himself.
One instinctive volley to break the deadlock, one incisive assist moments later, and Atalanta were sprinting away from a contest that had resembled a tactical wrestling match.
Before the break, Frankfurt had every reason to believe they were in control. Farès Chaïbi tested Marco Carnesecchi early, Robin Koch nodded wide, and the hosts looked ready to grind their way into an advantage.
It was tight, tense, and nervy — exactly the type of game that tends to suffocate attackers. Then from nowhere, the dam broke.
Lookman’s opener came with the ease of a player who had stopped overthinking. Charles De Ketelaere lifted a delicate, almost teasing ball into the box, and the Nigerian met it on the run, guiding a volley past a helpless Zetterer with a touch that felt both improvised and deliberate.
Two minutes later, he was threading a pass that carved Frankfurt in two, with Éderson racing in to slot home. By the time De Ketelaere pounced on a rebound from Gianluca Scamacca to add the third, the stadium had been stunned into silence.
The match had quickly moved from a stalemate into a rout without warning.
Lookman reclaims his confidence
Even Zetterer’s late brilliance in denying Berat Djimsiti felt like damage repair. The damage had already been dealt — by Lookman and his Atalanta side that showed what happens when their precision finally meets their ambition.
What remains frustrating for Lookman and his teammates is that even such an emphatic win leaves them outside the top eight, still needing a result against Chelsea to secure a guaranteed round-of-16 spot.
And while Lookman walked off after 82 minutes to warm applause—replaced by Kamaldeen Sulemana with the job already done—the most important takeaway for Atalanta is not just the points or the goal difference.
It’s that Lookman flicked the switch at last. If he has found his rhythm again, Atalanta’s season just became a little more dangerous.
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