Former Arsenal full back Sead Kolasinac is thrilled to have Ademola Lookman as a teammate after he helped Atalanta to the Europa League title with his hat-trick in Wednesday’s final against Bayer Leverkusen.
The 26-year-old Nigerian struck a brace in the first half at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin before completing his hat-trick towards the end of the game and became the first-ever player to do so in an Europa League final.
The result has left Atalanta players buzzing, with Kolasinac admitting he believed Lookman could influence the game.
“Unbelievable… before the match to be fair I was going to Berat Djimsit’s room, and I both we had the feeling that he [Lookman] can decide the match,” the Bosnian said.
“We know about this quality and I don’t know how often, after the game, how often I had to thank you because he gave us the trophy with his hat-trick and we are super happy to have him in our team.”
https://x.com/Atalanta_BC/status/1793401277151424825?t=eXJD6HHfpXiyZxhRxAPaHw&s=19
Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso also echoed the same sentiment, expressing confidence that La Dea were go win the title if Lookman scored.
“I told him that if he scored one goal we will lift the trophy because I was not going to concede any goal, but he ended up scoring three goals. I think he deserves to take the ball at home,” Musso explained.
The hat-trick by Lookman took him to five goals in the Europa League for the season, the same figure with the likes of compatriot Victor Boniface, West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres
