Ademola Lookman Makes History With Hat-Trick In 2024 UEFA Europa League Final

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Ademola Lookman Makes History With Hat-Trick In 2024 UEFA Europa League Final

Published

9 months ago

May 23, 2024

Ademola Lookman of Atalanta was awarded the Hankook Player of the Match for his outstanding performance, including a hat-trick that secured victory for his team in the 2024 UEFA Europa League final.

Ademola Lookman showcased his skill by reading Davide Zappacosta’s cross to score the opening goal and followed it up with a stunning individual goal in the 26th minute. Throughout the match, Lookman remained a constant threat and ultimately made history by becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in a UEFA Europa League final.

His third goal came in the 75th minute when he was played through by Gianluca Scamacca and emphatically found the back of the net for Atalanta’s third goal.

“I’ve always had the confidence in my ability to create, to score goals, to help my team-mates,” the 26-year-old said in the post-match press conference. “In the past two years, I’ve been able to take my game to a whole new level. Maybe [my best form] could have come earlier, but it’s come now. This is just the beginning. I hope for more nights like this and to just keep getting better and better.”

This marks the sixth occasion in which a player has achieved a hat-trick in the final of a significant UEFA club competition. One notable instance was Ferenc Puskás scoring four goals for Real Madrid against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 European Cup final, followed by another hat-trick against Benfica in the 1962 final of the same competition.

Additionally, Alfredo Di Stéfano joined Ferenc Puskás in scoring three goals for Madrid during the 1960 final. Pierino Prati notably scored a hat-trick against Ajax for Milan in the 1969 final. The only previous hat-trick in a UEFA Cup or Europa League final was achieved by Jupp Heynckes when Mönchengladbach emerged victorious against Twente in the 1975 final.

Ademola Lookman now joins a select group as the third Nigerian player to score in a UEFA Cup or Europa League final. The other Nigerian players who have achieved this feat are Alex Iwobi in Arsenal’s 4-1 defeat to Chelsea in 2019 and Joe Aribo, who scored for Rangers in their loss on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt two years ago. Furthermore, Lookman becomes just the third Nigerian player to feature in a winning final in this competition, following in the footsteps of Taribo West with Inter Milan in 1998 and Chidi Odiah with CSKA Moskva in 2005.

After the game, he said that playing international football for Nigeria had helped him to raise his game. “It’s incredible [to play for Nigeria],” he explained. “The support and the love I get back home from the people is unbelievable. It gives me the motivation to evolve in different areas – as a person, not just in my game.”

Player of the Match: Previous finals

2023 Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)

2022 Kevin Trapp (Frankfurt)

2021 Étienne Capoue (Villarreal)

2020 Luuk de Jong (Sevilla)

2019 Eden Hazard (Chelsea)

2018 Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid)

2017 Ander Herrera (Man United)

2016 Coke (Sevilla)

2015 Éver Banega (Sevilla)

2014 Ivan Rakitić (Sevilla)

2013 Branislav Ivanović (Chelsea)