Lookman inspires Atalanta to Europa League final against Boniface’s Leverkusen

The final of the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League (UEL) will see Super Eagles players square up against each other, as Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella will face Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman following their respective semi-final victories on Thursday.

After playing a 1-1 away draw against Marseille last week, Atalanta defeated the French side 3-0 on Thursday night to reach the final of a major European competition for the first time in the club’s 116-year history.

Nigerian winger Lookman opened the scoring at the Gewiss Stadium in the 30th minute, before assisting Matteo Ruggeri for his side’s second goal in the 52nd minute.

The Gian Piero Gasperini tutored side delivered the final blow at death through El Bilal Toure’s strike.

It wasn’t such an easy outing for Xabi Alonso-led Leverkusen who had to come back from two goals down to extend their unbeaten run to 49 games.

The Bundesliga champions had secured a 2-0 victory over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico last week, but a heavy squad rotation—that saw Boniface and Tella fully rested—saw the Giallorossi crawl their way back into the game.

Leonardo Paredes converted from the spot in both halves of the game for the Danielle De Rossi side, before an 83rd own goal and an injury-time equaliser from Josip Stanišić secured a draw for the German side at the Bay Arena.

The draw sealed Leverkusen’s final berth on a 4-2 aggregate to keep them unbeaten so far in the 2023/24 season. They face Atalanta on May 22 in Dublin.