Lookman scores hat-trick as Atalanta stun Leverkusen to win Europa League title
Ademola Lookman scored an exceptional hat-trick as Atalanta put an end to Bayer Leverkusen's 51-game unbeaten run to win the UEFA Europa League title.
Ademola Lookman scored an exceptional hat-trick as Atalanta put an end to Bayer Leverkusen's 51-game unbeaten run to win the UEFA Europa League title.
Robin Knoche's late winner secured Bundesliga leaders Union Berlin a vital 1-0 victory over Sweden's Malmo FF in UEFA Europa League Group D on Thursday.
Last season's Champions League winners face Eintracht Frankfurt, who beat Glasgow Rangers on penalties to win last season's Europa League, with the Spanish side the clear favorites to lift the title.
Players, coaches, officials and fans hardly got any sleep as celebrations continued until the morning followed by further parties back in Frankfurt. Over 100,000 fans welcomed their heroes in the city centre despite stormy weather and heavy rain.
Rangers' Aaron Ramsey, who had been brought on specially for the shootout, missed the seventh penalty, and Frankfurt's Rafael Santos Borre drilled the last penalty into the corner to decide the title.
The Spanish star who recently signed a new deal with Manchester United amid speculations that he may leave the club stated that fans of the Red Devils have helped the side in more ways than the players had even expected.
Matic relished the opportunity to be the captain and stated that he would not mind being made the full-time captain.
Since Rashford could not quite convert the opportunities into goals, the Red Devils had to depend upon Mason Greenwood to step up and score the winning goal.
During his time with the club, he has won the Premier League, the FA Cup, the League Cup, the UEFA Europa League and the Community Shield.
Talking about the 2018-19 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award, Argentina forward Lionel Messi, Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo and Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk were nominated on Thursday.
