Atalanta shows Bayer Leverkusen that no one is perfect

DUBLIN, Ireland – It was probably Michael Jordan who once said, “I never lost a game, I just ran out of time,” but as much as Xabi Alonso and his Bayer Leverkusen players might want that the same be true for their failure to complete an unprecedented unbeaten treble, the reality is that they ran out of ideas well before the clock and Atalanta beat them in the UEFA Europa League final.

Leverkusen had become the team that just doesn’t lose under Alonso this season. Undefeated champions of a 34-match Bundesliga season, runners-up in the DFB-Pokal and also in the final of a European competition — not a single defeat, anywhere — they were trying to become the first team since the start of European competitions of clubs in 1955-56. sweep the board without losing a game.

Until arriving in Dublin, looking to seal the second leg of an unbeaten treble, they had gone 51 matches without defeat in all competitions, a period of 361 days dating back to a 3–0 defeat to VfL Bochum on the 27th. May 2023. But this series ended abruptly with another 3-0 defeat against the underestimated Atalanta of Gian Piero Gasperini. And the hard truth for Leverkusen is that it wasn’t even close.

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From start to finish, Atalanta dominated. Alonso had explained before the match that Gasperini’s side liked to let loose and play deeper, but if he expected the same approach at the Aviva Stadium, it was a huge miscalculation as Atalanta pressed constantly in the final third of the field and forced Leverkusen. error after error. The second part of Leverkusen’s treble never seemed likely.

History was made in Dublin, but it was Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman, rather than Leverkusen, who wrote his place in the record books by becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in a Europa League/UEFA Cup final since Jupp Heynckes for Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1975.

No player had scored a hat-trick in a European final for an Italian club since AC Milan’s Pierino Prati scored it in a 4-1 win over Ajax in the Cup final of Europe/UEFA Champions League 1968-69. Lookman, who left the field with the match ball as well as his winner’s medal, therefore deserves all the praise he will receive in the coming days.

Atalanta is an exceptional team, brilliantly coached by Gasperini. They convincingly beat Napoli and Roma in Italy and Sporting CP and Liverpool in Europe this season, secured Champions League qualification for next season and have now become the first and only team to beat and inflict a defeat at Leverkusen this campaign.

“I think we made history, especially for the way we won it,” Gasperini said. “It was just extraordinary. We beat Liverpool, Sporting (Lisbon) who won the championship. When we played Liverpool, they were first in the Premier League. And now, the German champions. Unbelievable. The boys were extraordinary, a memorable performance.”

But even if it was Atalanta’s night, no one outside his hometown of Bergamo would have really expected this to be the result. Leverkusen have been incredibly efficient this season. They came into this final having scored 17 times after the 90th minute, and when they have suffered defeat in recent weeks, they have come from behind on several occasions.

Since March, they have saved a draw thanks to goals in stoppage time against Roma (97th minute), Stuttgart (96th), Borussia Dortmund (97th) and Qarabag (92nd). They turned their defeat into victory against Hoffenheim with goals in the 88th and 91st minutes, while in the Europa League home first leg against Qarabag they fought back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 with goals at the 72nd, 93rd and 98th. minute.

So when they were 2-0 down at half-time after Lookman’s goals in the 12th and 26th minutes – both were down to poor defending triggered by Atalanta’s high pressure – there was no feeling of panic among players or their supporters. After all, they had found themselves in this situation many times before and gotten through it.

But while there was no panic, there was no urgency either. Alonso’s players had heavy legs and lacked confidence. They barely created a chance, although Florian Wirtz did his best to breathe life into his team. Just as Liverpool were made lethargic and one-dimensional by Atalanta in their 3-0 defeat at Anfield in the first leg of the quarter-final, Leverkusen fell into the same trap and ended up looking very ordinary.

“It wasn’t lost in terms of attitude, it was a football thing,” Alonso said. “It happens, it’s football, it wasn’t supposed to happen today. They were better.

“It’s our first loss of the season, so it will be a test of how we will handle it, because we have a big game on Saturday. Normally this (first loss) happens earlier in the season, but when this happens in such a big match, match, it hurts But we have to use this pain in a positive way – this is football, normal is not to lose the first game in the 52nd game.

“It’s exceptional what we’ve done. Today, it’s painful, but it’s also deserved.”

Despite the hurt feelings experienced by Leverkusen, this season has already been remarkable and they can still make history by completing an unbeaten double by beating Kaiserslautern, who finished mid-second in the 2. Bundesliga, in the DFB final- Pokal in Berlin on Saturday.

Being invincible domestically remains an impossible dream, but Leverkusen are 90 minutes away from achieving it. But they were also 90 minutes away from glory against Atalanta and, unlike Michael Jordan, they lost before running out of time.