Clinical Atalanta beat Marseille to reach the final
Atalanta BC’s Ademola Lookman, Matteo Ruggeri and El Bilal Toure on Thursday all got on the scoresheet to send the Italian side to their first Europa League final with a 3-0 win over Olympique de Marseille for a 4-1 aggregate victory.
They are to play Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who overcame AS Roma, in their first European final in Dublin on May 22.
Lookman put Atalanta ahead in the semi-final second leg after half an hour with a long-range strike past Pao Lopez before setting up Ruggeri to net seven minutes after the break.
Atalanta’s repeated attacks, with Gianluca Scamacca and Davide Zappacosta threatening, overwhelmed the visitors, who had few chances. Substitute Toure put the nail in Marseille’s coffin with their third goal four minutes into stoppage-time.
“My first goal in Bergamo is a very big emotion,” Ruggeri told SkySports Italia. “Now we can dream with our eyes open that we’re in the final. It’s a moment to celebrate with our people.”
Atalanta are aiming for a trophy double as they also face Juventus in the Coppa Italia on Wednesday next week, with their 1963 Coppa Italia triumph being their only major silverware.
Regarding the Europa League, coach Gian Piero Gasperini told a news conference: “It will be a historic occasion for a team like ours who don’t have the numbers [of fans] to win. It’s really incredible, but it bodes well for everyone.” on Thursday with their 2-0 win against Aston Villa in their semifinal second leg.
Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side clinched a 6-2 aggregate triumph thanks to a double from Villa’s chief tormentor Ayoub El Kaabi, who hit a hat-trick in the first leg.
On a raucous night at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, Olympiakos, champions of Greece a record 47 times, booked their first appearance in a major European final.
The only other Greek club to reach a European final were Panathinaikos, who were beaten by Ajax in the 1971 European Cup final.
Fiorentina booked their return to the showpiece by defeating Club Brugge 4-3 on aggregate in the other semi-final on Wednesday.