Gian Piero Gasperini lavished praise on his “incredible” Atalanta players after they stunned Bayer Leverkusen to win the Europa League and claim their first ever continental honour.
Atalanta swept aside German champions Leverkusen 3-0 who were unbeaten in 51 games in all competitions before Wednesday night’s final in Dublin.
The Italians won their first trophy in over six decades with a sensational display of attacking football capped by Ademola Lookman’s hat-trick.
“It’s an amazing feeling. The boys were incredible, the performance that they put in this evening was wonderful,” said Gasperini to Sky Sport.
“You can’t just defend in matches like this. We knew about this type of team that they’re really good going forward but not so good if you force them to defend. It went well right from the beginning.
“More than anything else it’s also about how we did it. We absolutely deserved to win. We’re so happy because to win the Europa league is a huge achievement for us.”
Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen were hot favourites to complete a treble by winning in Dublin and in the German Cup final on Saturday after romping to their first ever Bundesliga title without losing.
But Lookman made sure Atalanta would take the trophy back to Bergamo with a fabulous treble, each goal scored by the Nigeria forward improving on the previous strike.
“Very, very happy. Together we made history. It’s incredible,” said Lookman to Sky.
“The ambition of the club… Last season we had a great season to qualify for the Europa League and this season we won a trophy. It’s a fantastic effort from everybody. We’re gonna celebrate tonight.”
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