Atalanta won the match 3–0 for their first European trophy and their first trophy in 61 years courtesy of a hat-trick by Ademola Lookman.[7] In doing so, he became the first hat-trick scorer in a Europa League final, the first in a major European final since Jupp Heynckes in the 1975 UEFA Cup final second leg and the first in a single-match major European final since Pierino Prati in the 1969 European Cup final.[8] Atalanta also became the 30th different club to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League, the first Italian club since Parma in 1999 to win the trophy and the first Italian side to win the competition since its rebranding before the 2009–10 season. Leverkusen, who had been unbeaten in 51 matches across all competitions in the season, became the first German side to lose a UEFA Cup/Europa League final since Werder Bremen in 2009.
The final was only the third time the teams had met. Their first two matches were in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League round of 16. Atalanta won both legs, 3–2 at home and 1–0 in the away game.[9]
Previous finals
In the following table, the finals until 2009 were in the UEFA Cup era, and since 2010 in the UEFA Europa League era.
Team
Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
On 16 July 2021, the UEFA Executive Committee announced that due to the withdrawal of hosting rights for UEFA Euro 2020, the Aviva Stadium in Dublin was given hosting rights for the 2024 final. This was part of a settlement agreement by UEFA to recognise the efforts and financial investment made to host UEFA Euro 2020.[5]
It was the second time that the Europa League final has been held in the Aviva Stadium, having previously hosted the 2011 final.
In the round of 16, Atalanta were drawn against Sporting CP, a rematch from the group stage clash. In the first leg at the Estádio José Alvalade, Atalanta drew 1–1, with goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Paulinho.[17] In the second leg, Atalanta defeated Sporting CP 2–1, with goals from Ademola Lookman and Gianluca Scamacca cancelling out Pedro Gonçalves' opener to win 3–2 on aggregate and advance to the quarter-finals.[18]
In the quarter-finals, Atalanta were drawn against English club and tournament favourites Liverpool. In the first leg, Atalanta produced a 3–0 away win at Anfield, with a brace from Gianluca Scamacca and a goal from Mario Pašalić, ending Liverpool's 34-game unbeaten run at home across all competitions.[19] In the second leg, Atalanta lost 1–0, but despite Mohamed Salah scoring for his team, the three goal advantage from the first leg was enough for Atalanta to advance 3–1 on aggregate.[20]
In the semi-finals, Atalanta were drawn against French club Marseille. In the first leg at the Stade de Marseille, Atalanta drew 1–1, with goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Chancel Mbemba for the hosts.[21] In the second leg at the Stadio di Bergamo, the hosts defeated Marseille 3–0, with goals from Ademola Lookman, Matteo Ruggeri, and El Bilal Touré. Atalanta won 4–1 on aggregate to qualify for their first European final.[22]
In the round of 16, Leverkusen were drawn against Qarabağ, a rematch from the group stage clash. In the first leg at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Leverkusen drew 2–2, with goals from Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick.[29] In the second leg, Leverkusen defeated Qarabağ 3–2, with one goal from Jeremie Frimpong and two late goals from Patrik Schick cancelling out goals from Abdellah Zoubir and Juninho to win 5–4 on aggregate and advance to the quarter-finals.[30]
In the quarter-finals, Leverkusen were drawn against English club and reigning Europa Conference League winners West Ham United. In the first leg, Leverkusen produced a 2–0 home win at BayArena, with two late goals coming from Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface.[31] In the second leg, the match ended with a 1–1 draw, where despite Michail Antonio opened the scoring early for West Ham, Jeremie Frimpong equalised late on to ensure that the two goal advantage from the first leg was enough for Leverkusen to advance 3–1 on aggregate.[32]
In the semi-finals, Leverkusen were drawn against Italian club Roma, runners-up of the previous edition. In the first leg at the Stadio Olimpico, Leverkusen won 2–0, with goals from Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich enough for the away team to carry an advantage into the second leg.[33] In the second leg at the BayArena, the hosts came from 2–0 down after 66 minutes, courtesy of a brace from Leandro Paredes, before scoring two goals late on via an own goal from Gianluca Mancini and a 97th minute goal from Josip Stanišić to draw the match 2–2. Leverkusen won 4–2 on aggregate and progressed to the Europa League final, while also setting a new European unbeaten record of 49 successive games, surpassing the Benfica side that was managed between December 1963 and February 1965.[34]
Pre-match
Identity
The original identity of the 2024 UEFA Europa League final was unveiled at the group stage draw on 1 September 2023.[35]
Ambassador
The ambassador for the final was former Irish international John O'Shea who walked onto the pitch with the trophy before the match.[36]
Ticketing
From a capacity of 48,000 seats, 36,000 were made available to the fans and the general public, of which both competing team's supporters received an allocation of 12,000 tickets each.[37]
In the 12th minute, Atalanta went in front after Teun Koopmeiners played a through-ball to Davide Zappacosta who then played the ball low across from the right where Ademola Lookman was lurking, and the Nigerian managed to run in front of Exequiel Palacios and strike the ball into the top left-hand corner of the net to give the Italian side the lead. Lookman doubled Atalanta's lead fourteen minutes later, after collecting the ball and dribbling past Granit Xhaka before striking his effort into the bottom right-hand corner of the net to make it 2–0.[38] Leverkusen came close to getting a goal back after Álex Grimaldo was played through on goal by Palacios, but the Spaniard's attempted chip ended up safely in the hands of Juan Musso. Atalanta pushed for a third as the game progressed, with Charles De Ketelaere having an effort saved by Matěj Kovář, and Piero Hincapié forced to prevent a cross from Koopmeiners from reaching De Ketelaere. In the 75th minute, Lookman completed his hat-trick after receiving the ball from Gianluca Scamacca on the left before managing to find himself space and get a shot away, which ended up in the top right-hand corner of the net. The match ended with Atalanta winning 3–0, as they secured their first ever European title.[39]
Details
The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.
With their victory, it gave Atalanta only the second major trophy in their 116-year history, over six decades after the Bergamo side had won the Coppa Italia in 1963. They were the tenth different Italian side to do so, second only to sides from England. Aged 66 years and 117 days, Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini became the fourth oldest manager to win a major European trophy after Raymond Goethals, Jupp Heynckes, and Alex Ferguson. This was also the biggest margin of defeat for a German team in a major European final match since the 1993 UEFA Cup, when Borussia Dortmund lost 3–0 to Juventus in the second leg. In single-game only finals, it was the biggest margin of defeat for a German team since Eintracht Frankfurt lost 7–3 to Real Madrid in the 1960 European Cup final. Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman was selected as man of the match after scoring a hat-trick in the game.[1] His treble was the sixth to be scored in a major UEFA final, and was the first since Jupp Heynckes' for Borussia Mönchengladbach against Twente in 1975, which was the only other one to be scored in a UEFA Cup/Europa League final.
Conversely, Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first and only defeat of their 2023–24 season. They had been unbeaten in all 51 of their matches in all competitions this term before the final.[42] They nevertheless went on to win the 2024 DFB-Pokal final three days later, completing a domestic double.[43]
1 2 3 "Team statistics"(PDF). UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 22 May 2024. Archived(PDF) from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
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