Nigerians react as Lookman ruins Leverkusen's record to win Atalanta's 1st European Cup

Nigerians on social media are ecstatic over Super Eagles' forward Ademola Lookman's heroic performance for his Italian club, Atalanta against German Bundesliga Champions, Bayer Leverkusen, in the UEFA Europa League final.

Lookman was the star of the night as the team from Bergamo swept aside the Xabi Alonso tutored side to secure their first-ever continental trophy.

Leverkusen were on a fairy-tale of an unbeaten run in over 50 matches, stretching back to the end of last season.

The Leverkusen-based team were crowned Bundesliga champions last weekend and will play in the German Cup (DFB-Pokal) final against FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday, May 25, 2024.

So the Die Werkself went into tonight's contest at the Dublin Arena in the Republic of Ireland with the hopes of ending the season with a treble and remaining invincible.

Lookman stuns Leverkusen

However, Lookman stole the show as his sublime hattrick gave Atalanta a memorable 3-0 victory against Leverkusen.

The Italian side were more purposeful in the early exchanges, and their aggressive approach paid off after just 12 minutes.

Former Chelsea defender, Davide Zappacosta, chased a Teun Koopmeiners' pass to the by-line and pulled back into the danger area for Lookman, who caught Ezequiel Palacios napping at the back post to fire a left-footer into the top corner.

Atalanta maintained their high-pressing game, forcing the German champions into making several errors.

With Leverkusen struggling to find answers to their opponent's approach, the Serie A minnows romped to a two-goal lead after 26 minutes with Lookman again the protagonist.

The Nigerian pounced on a loose ball from the midfield as he nutmegged Granit Xhaka on the edge of the 18-yard box before unleashing a powerful low curler into the far corner.

That was all she wrote in the first half.

The second half got off to a lightning start with Leverkusen throwing on Nigerian striker, Victor Boniface, to inject some spark into their lethargic attack.

However, Atalanta's half-time substitute, Giorgio Scalvini, was up to the task in defence as the Bergamo outfit smothered all the threats by the Bundesliga side and looked ready to hit on the counter.

As the game wore on and Leverkusen poured forward, Lookman put a gloss on the result with a quarter of an hour to go.

The Super Eagles forward received a through ball from Gianluca Scamacca, and galloped towards the Leverkusen defence, skipping past Edmond Tapsoba to blast into the top corner with his weaker left foot.

The German side failed to take advantage of some scrappy chances that fell their way and the Gian Piero Gasperini boys held on to record an impressive victory.

The Nigerian didn't only go home with the match ball, he was also voted man of the match after becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in a European final in 49 years.

Nigerians praise Lookman

Below are Nigerians' reactions after Lookman's heroic performance.