UEFA Europa League 2023/24 Season

[Frankolala]

This disappointment is not going to be all that easy for Leverkusen because I do not think that they will be here for a long time. The thing about Europa is that if you are too good then you are usually at UCL, and for example Leverkusen will be at UCL because they won their league. If you drop from UCL then you are usually not the best team in the world, and could end up losing.

Reaching to Europa finals with 50-51 unbeaten games means that it is one of the rarest things the history of football has ever seen. If you are a 50+ games unbeaten team, then you are usually at UCL. So all in all, this type of chance will probably never hit Leverkusen again and they know this. This is why it is a very upsetting game and I bet that they rather lose like 3-4 more games (whatever helps them stay champions at bundesliga) at league instead of lose this one game.

Due to their wonderful performance and consistency in all their matches in Bundesliga and in Europa games, made everyone to believe that they are capable of winning Atalanta who was underestimated by Leverkusen. Just the way Liverpool underestimated Atalanta and received a shock, is the same way Leverkusen underestimated them and the same thing happened to them

Atalanta coach is a man with so much wisdom in the sense that, he used his second choice players in Coppa Italia against Juventus and rested his key players, he only brought them in the second half to keep them fit and from fatigue, because he knows that match is not as important to him as the Europa finals. While Xabi Alonso have been using his first squad in all matches, which made it more easy for their opponents to study their game pattern and know their weak points. While Leverkusen was feeling big with their unbeaten record which made them not to be careful with Atalanta.

[swogerino]

This disappointment is not going to be all that easy for Leverkusen because I do not think that they will be here for a long time. The thing about Europa is that if you are too good then you are usually at UCL, and for example Leverkusen will be at UCL because they won their league. If you drop from UCL then you are usually not the best team in the world, and could end up losing.

Reaching to Europa finals with 50-51 unbeaten games means that it is one of the rarest things the history of football has ever seen. If you are a 50+ games unbeaten team, then you are usually at UCL. So all in all, this type of chance will probably never hit Leverkusen again and they know this. This is why it is a very upsetting game and I bet that they rather lose like 3-4 more games (whatever helps them stay champions at bundesliga) at league instead of lose this one game.

Due to their wonderful performance and consistency in all their matches in Bundesliga and in Europa games, made everyone to believe that they are capable of winning Atalanta who was underestimated by Leverkusen. Just the way Liverpool underestimated Atalanta and received a shock, is the same way Leverkusen underestimated them and the same thing happened to them

Atalanta coach is a man with so much wisdom in the sense that, he used his second choice players in Coppa Italia against Juventus and rested his key players, he only brought them in the second half to keep them fit and from fatigue, because he knows that match is not as important to him as the Europa finals. While Xabi Alonso have been using his first squad in all matches, which made it more easy for their opponents to study their game pattern and know their weak points. While Leverkusen was feeling big with their unbeaten record which made them not to be careful with Atalanta.

I think more it was because Leverkussen underestimated Atalanta deep down,not their coach but most likely their players did,Xabi Alonso was not able to keep his team motivated enough as to stop them from going euphoric before such an important event for them.Maybe the players were tired and their main objective to win the first title in all their history in Bundesliga was achieved and they didn't care much what would happen in this final yet it would have been quite a great ending to the season if in the same time in history,in the same season they to have won both the Bundesliga and Europa League.

Big congrats to Atalanta who won for the first time I think in their history an European Cup and they are in history books now in Italy as another new team to have won a title,especially in a time when Italian teams are not doing good at all in European arena.

[Weawant]

Atalanta just punch in the correct time, they do a similar game to the one they made against Liverpool, very simialr, they dont play so much with the ball but they go in fast speed into forwards transitions and PUMP!, they do the same against Liverpool, you can check it in the ball percentage.

Masterclass from Ginapiero Gasperini an his boys, also for taht you need a player in a state of grace, like Ademola Lookman was.

I like the fact that Atlanta were not rates enough till they took everyone by surprise a s pulled up a shock that got almost everyone wondering if Leverkusen was still a good team enough to be able to probably get to play really well against Atlanta because I'm sure even Leverkusen never expected it coming in such for, it's possible they may be aware it's not going to be an easy game but they weren't aware it will be this tough .

Leverkusen actually had the chance to turn the game around after the first goal but they felt like it was the regular experience they have had since this season and so they are most definitely going to get back before the end of the game or probably get to end the game with an equalizer but t he forgot that Atlanta don't focus their energy in the performance or possession but in the winning of the game which was exactly what they did in the end of the game, they made sure to get the early goals so it will get the confidence and morale of their opponent weak and they can get to capitalize on that for their victory which was exactly what happened.

With that I'm sure Leverkusen would have learnt their lessons and they will know how best to handle their forth coming finals in their domestic league which is about to take place days from now of which I believe they are most definitely going to win because they have learnt the lesson they needed to win that game because if they had won the Europa it's possible they could neglect the finals they still have ahead.

[Lillominato89]

A few days ago I had expressly said that it was wrong to underestimate Atalanta in this competition and to give them as sure losers. Leverkusen have done extraordinary things both in the Bundesliga and in the Europa League, but last night they found in front of them a team that wasn't afraid of anyone, not even the European bigs. Here someone had said that Atalanta only had luck, I say instead that Atalanta concentrated and used their strengths on the cups and slightly neglected Serie A. Eliminating Sporting Lisbon, Liverpool and Marseille doesn't really seem like luck to me, but underneath there is meticulous teamwork devoted to getting the best possible result. And last night we had confirmation of that, they beat the favourites without ever risking any major attacks from the opponents, I only get compliments for Atalanta

Well said and very true especially in the part about not underestimating Atalanta and thinking that their success is accidental. After the 3-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield it was clear that we are facing a very unusual team, which can play very mediocre in the championship, but can tune in for one game and make every effort to win against any opponent. This is probably the merit of Gasperini, that he managed to prepare the team so mentally and physically that they reached the final, beat very strong opponents and in the final managed to beat a team that had not lost for 361 days. So this victory is a great achievement in itself and Gasperini has been going to this day for a long time, doing his best for this victory, and we can only wish Alonso good luck, because Bayer showed some phenomenal level of play this season, winning the Bundesliga.

Exactly, the bulk of the credit must go to Gasperini who managed to pull off a real feat, one of those that happen once every 10 years, let's say the success is comparable to what Claudio Ranieri did with Leicester winning the Premier League with a provincial team. I only feel sorry for Alonso who had done something extraordinary by getting 51 consecutive useful matches but he fell in the most important game, but that won't erase what he has done so far with Leverkusen

[Jegileman]

This could have been the most important success for Bayer Leverkusen, but their undefeated streak ended and they lost the cup. Two sad results came together. It's a sad week for them. However, if we look at the whole season, it was a great season and they only had 1 defeat. We need to congratulate Atalanta and Lookman. It was very difficult to beat this Leverkusen

Atalanta really did well to win the Europa League trophy this season after their loss in the Copa Italia final to Juventus. I thought they would have lost hope after that defeat but they were able to do their best and they won the trophy when everyone thought they will lose to the almighty and undefeated Bayern Leverkusen. Bayern Leverkusen should also be praised for their performance throughout the season for coming this far without losing a game in the whole season not until this finals. They have one more game to end the season with, if they can use the same energy that Atalanta used after losing the Copa Italia final in their upcoming final in DFB Pokal, they can be victorious and win the second trophy of the season for themselves. At this point, they were deserving of the three trophies, but now that they can’t win all three, two is still okay for them to win.

[baeva]

I was always one of the guys here who dont fully back Bayern Leverkusen in this tournament, in the last time i start to back them a litle bit more because they were showing a unique habilty to scape from every dificult situation, but also yesterday in this thread i said, for me it was super high odds 4.33 for Atalanta to win, and you see Atalanta oblited LEverkusen with a Lookman out of this world yesterday.

It is quite difficult to adequately assess the chances of a team and put a normal odds when the opponent is a team that has never lost and is now entering its last match of the season. So I'm not surprised by these odds, although like many people I believed in Liverkusen's victory. They have come a long way anyway and left behind broken records, so they can be proud of themselves

Leverkusen should still be proud of themselves because they credibly well this season, they won Bundesliga unbeaten and played almost all matches unbeaten in the Europa League until yesterday when Atalanta defeated them in their last match of the season that will make them a treble winners. This lose should not be an excuse to criticize their performance, in fact, I blame Alonso for putting some of his important players on bench in the beginning of the match, which shows that they completely did not expect a defeat against an Atalanta side that couldn’t make it to top four in their domestic league Seria A.

Leverkusen remain my best German team of the year and my best team of the season because they showed an impressive performance this season with average players that are not completely known in the world of football.

Next season, Leverkusen will go again and will make sure they have another wonderful season to prove to the world that this season is not just by luck.

I really hope they do manage to keep their form and continue to win and compete well with Bayern, they managed to break their 11 year winning streak in the Bundesliga so it would be fair to keep taking titles away from them. Just the fact that they never lost once in the season allowed fans to think they would win the Europa League, I thought so too but Atalanta showed their level

[entertheabyss]

This could have been the most important success for Bayer Leverkusen, but their undefeated streak ended and they lost the cup. Two sad results came together. It's a sad week for them. However, if we look at the whole season, it was a great season and they only had 1 defeat. We need to congratulate Atalanta and Lookman. It was very difficult to beat this Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen vs Atalanta game taught the vast majority never to underestimate any average club because this particular club is tasty for the big winning and more importantly, in the finals. Bayer Leverkusen lengthy unbeaten streak have come to am end after experiencing shocking defeats against Atalanta in the Europa League final. Xabi Alonso and the rest of the squad didn't see that coming but they have no option than embraced the result.

[GiftedMAN]

This could have been the most important success for Bayer Leverkusen, but their undefeated streak ended and they lost the cup. Two sad results came together. It's a sad week for them. However, if we look at the whole season, it was a great season and they only had 1 defeat. We need to congratulate Atalanta and Lookman. It was very difficult to beat this Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen vs Atalanta game taught the vast majority never to underestimate any average club because this particular club is tasty for the big winning and more importantly, in the finals. Bayer Leverkusen lengthy unbeaten streak have come to am end after experiencing shocking defeats against Atalanta in the Europa League final. Xabi Alonso and the rest of the squad didn't see that coming but they have no option than embraced the result.

The outcome of the game left me speechless because I never expected to see Bayer Leverkusen lose the game in such a way that they couldn't even try to get back on the game, the sad truth is that the Bayer Leverkusen team never expected the defeat since they have been successful in defeating their opponents and securing draws in the last minutes so they may have doubted the strength of Atalanta in defeating them but at the end of the day they were defeated in a bad way which put an end to their decent record of unbeaten in all competition. I believe the team accepted the outcome of the game in good faith and they are hoping to be back to winning ways when they play the DFB finals and hopefully they get a win to apologize to them fans who was disappointed in their defeat against Atalanta.

[TelolettOm]

Lookman isn't only performing quite well, he played so amazing. Dude, it is the final Europa league and Lookman could make a hattrick (3 goals). It is very rare to see a player who can score a hattrick in the final match. Lookman is also not a very popular player, even I just know this player in this season. He contributed with incredible performance for Atalanta today.

Isn't he the first player to score a hattrick in a Europa League final?

No, he is not the first one for the European Cup or UEFA Cup.
But, for the name of UEFA Europa League, he is the first one.
Anyway, he also had the record as the first player to score hat-trick in UEFA Europa League in Atalanta and he's the first Nigerian who did it.
His awesome performance also brought him to be the man of the match, moreover it's against Bayer Leverkusen, who is considerably the best rising club right now with unbeaten records previously. That is why, it is again, more special again.

Here is the list based on the source that I took:


Source: Lookman scored hat-rick
Source: Ademola Lookman

[DubemIfedigbo001]

The outcome of the game left me speechless because I never expected to see Bayer Leverkusen lose the game in such a way that they couldn't even try to get back on the game, the sad truth is that the Bayer Leverkusen team never expected the defeat since they have been successful in defeating their opponents and securing draws in the last minutes so they may have doubted the strength of Atalanta in defeating them but at the end of the day they were defeated in a bad way which put an end to their decent record of unbeaten in all competition. I believe the team accepted the outcome of the game in good faith and they are hoping to be back to winning ways when they play the DFB finals and hopefully they get a win to apologize to them fans who was disappointed in their defeat against Atalanta.

I am not very surprised at the outcome of that game, I mentioned earlier in this thread that I was expecting the repeat of Manchester United and Ajax Europa league final magic in this present one. Their loss to Juve was like a setup to me because the normal Atalanta I know wouldn't lose that match just like that.

They made their opponents underestimate them while packaging a surprise turbo boost to conquer Leverkusen. On that very day, Leverkusen couldn't believe their eyes as Atalanta  locked their defense and threw away the keys never to be found, almost no Leverkusen tactics could break that defense. They Leverkusen defense were busy marking closely the likes of Scarmarca.  Lookman who was underestimated and left barely marked played just like Drogba and converted most of his chances to give Atlanta a well deserved win and not only did they end Leverkusen unbeaten record, they trashed the team in what looked like the game ceased to be a contest

[Google+]

No, he is not the first one for the European Cup or UEFA Cup.
But, for the name of UEFA Europa League, he is the first one.
Anyway, he also had the record as the first player to score hat-trick in UEFA Europa League in Atalanta and he's the first Nigerian who did it.
His awesome performance also brought him to be the man of the match, moreover it's against Bayer Leverkusen, who is considerably the best rising club right now with unbeaten records previously. That is why, it is again, more special again.

Here is the list based on the source that I took:


Source: Lookman scored hat-rick
Source: Ademola Lookman

The contribution he made in the final match was extraordinary, 3 he scored we can say 3 beautiful goals that are difficult to anticipate by the leverkusen goalkeeper, lookman who is considered a failed player in the Premier League is actually able to make a very big contribution to Atlanta,  Lookman is currently on loan from Leicester City but I think he will remain a hero for Atlanta who finally broke Leverkusen unbeaten run this season, with Lookman contribution and current performances at Atlanta of course he is starting to be targeted by other big teams, reportedly Barcelona are currently interested in signing him next summer,  while Atlanta is unlikely to hesitate to make him permanent next season.

From the list of hat trick scorers you mentioned, of course we can say that Lookman is the first player who can score a hat trick in this modern football era, because if we compare the distance between the last hat trick scorer that occurred in the UEFA Cup in 1975, of course it is quite far and this indicates that scoring a hat trick in the Europa League is not an easy thing to do,  It took Lookman almost 49 years to become one of the players to score a hat trick after Jupp Heynckes last did it in 1975.

[Sg4j1n3ll0]

This could have been the most important success for Bayer Leverkusen, but their undefeated streak ended and they lost the cup. Two sad results came together. It's a sad week for them. However, if we look at the whole season, it was a great season and they only had 1 defeat. We need to congratulate Atalanta and Lookman. It was very difficult to beat this Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen vs Atalanta game taught the vast majority never to underestimate any average club because this particular club is tasty for the big winning and more importantly, in the finals. Bayer Leverkusen lengthy unbeaten streak have come to am end after experiencing shocking defeats against Atalanta in the Europa League final. Xabi Alonso and the rest of the squad didn't see that coming but they have no option than embraced the result.

The outcome of the game left me speechless because I never expected to see Bayer Leverkusen lose the game in such a way that they couldn't even try to get back on the game, the sad truth is that the Bayer Leverkusen team never expected the defeat since they have been successful in defeating their opponents and securing draws in the last minutes so they may have doubted the strength of Atalanta in defeating them but at the end of the day they were defeated in a bad way which put an end to their decent record of unbeaten in all competition. I believe the team accepted the outcome of the game in good faith and they are hoping to be back to winning ways when they play the DFB finals and hopefully they get a win to apologize to them fans who was disappointed in their defeat against Atalanta.

but why should they be disappointed the fans have made a great journey but in any case they knew that they would find a fierce team like Atalanta who was surprised is because they are not well informed about Atalanta and the growth path it has had in recent years with gasperini and I assure you that he gave a hard time in Italy to teams much stronger than Bayern Leverkusen having said that I honestly expected an Atalanta victory but certainly not of this magnitude

[Bobrox]

I watch every time with Ademola Lookman goals hattrick against Bayern Leverkusen, he did it too simple how easily scoring three goals with one shot always get potential making one goals.
Actually Ademola Lookman know well with Bundesliga team atmosphere because he was played with RB Leipzig and know the weakness side of Bayern Leverkusen defensive.
Its first time for Ademola Lookman make hattrick his appearance in  Europe League and success make Atalanta winning the Europe League trophy, I think most of teams looks disappointed after wasting the talented of Ademola Lookman from Premier League team Everton until several team not give him more minutes playing or become regular position with his previous team before.

[CroverNo01]

I watch every time with Ademola Lookman goals hattrick against Bayern Leverkusen, he did it too simple how easily scoring three goals with one shot always get potential making one goals.
Actually Ademola Lookman know well with Bundesliga team atmosphere because he was played with RB Leipzig and know the weakness side of Bayern Leverkusen defensive.
Its first time for Ademola Lookman make hattrick his appearance in  Europe League and success make Atalanta winning the Europe League trophy, I think most of teams looks disappointed after wasting the talented of Ademola Lookman from Premier League team Everton until several team not give him more minutes playing or become regular position with his previous team before.

Lookman has gathered attention from many clubs,and as it stands now,most big teams wants him,and sometimes,he will be bought from that club this season.I started watching him in the African cup of nations when he was playing for his country, Nigeria,and he was the only player who looked dangerous among them.I don't want to talk about Osimhen in that County because I don't like his pattern of play,Lookman is very good as a winger,and can play in any club he goes to.I would love it if he comes to the best league in the world,which is the English premier league.He would really be a star in a club like Chelsea or Totthenham.

[Weawant]

but why should they be disappointed the fans have made a great journey but in any case they knew that they would find a fierce team like Atalanta who was surprised is because they are not well informed about Atalanta and the growth path it has had in recent years with gasperini and I assure you that he gave a hard time in Italy to teams much stronger than Bayern Leverkusen having said that I honestly expected an Atalanta victory but certainly not of this magnitude

It's very possible Leverkusen either ignored or weren't following up with the fact that Atlanta was having a growth curve that could be threatening if not payed attention to and then just this carefree part of their observation cost them the trophy they had fought all season for and now they are looking like they haven't been successful enough for a season as this which they were able to maintain a record that most team couldn't.

Atlanta had a progression in improvement that was least noticed by only a few which made most others somehow took them  for granted until they won the Europa title and now the attention is gradually gett to them int he Italian league as they have set a record for the Italian teams, I'm sure by next season except for the French league which we didn't get to experience much surprise, across every other league in Europe there's going to be a different kind of competition as most underdogs are stepping up beyond the average level in their various leagues which will make competing in other top leagues even more tough.

This was his Girona progressed in the bundesliga and only got noticed towards the end of the season so I believe next season Atlanta will become such a top team that they may be ranking amongst the top both in their domestic league and other leagues where they will be playing, it's been a fulfilling season for them as they have been able to achieve that which they have not been able to achieve in a long time in their football history.

[slapper]

This could have been the most important success for Bayer Leverkusen, but their undefeated streak ended and they lost the cup. Two sad results came together. It's a sad week for them. However, if we look at the whole season, it was a great season and they only had 1 defeat. We need to congratulate Atalanta and Lookman. It was very difficult to beat this Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen vs Atalanta game taught the vast majority never to underestimate any average club because this particular club is tasty for the big winning and more importantly, in the finals. Bayer Leverkusen lengthy unbeaten streak have come to am end after experiencing shocking defeats against Atalanta in the Europa League final. Xabi Alonso and the rest of the squad didn't see that coming but they have no option than embraced the result.

I expected Atalanta to beat Bayer Leverkusen. Yes, it was a shock, but Serie A fans know Atalanta under Gasperini is a threat. They've challenged top teams for years, above their weight. The score was surprising, but the win? Somewhat less. Certainly, Leverkusen has had a rough season. This loss? A wake-up. Even the best teams have off days. What, though? They have talent, coaches, and infrastructure to recover. Small blip on the radar. We don't just cheer when things go well. Standing by the team through tough times. Leverkusen needs our support in the DFB-Pokal final. Allow us to demonstrate that one loss doesn't define a season and our constant support.

[samuraijin]

I watch every time with Ademola Lookman goals hattrick against Bayern Leverkusen, he did it too simple how easily scoring three goals with one shot always get potential making one goals.
Actually Ademola Lookman know well with Bundesliga team atmosphere because he was played with RB Leipzig and know the weakness side of Bayern Leverkusen defensive.
Its first time for Ademola Lookman make hattrick his appearance in  Europe League and success make Atalanta winning the Europe League trophy, I think most of teams looks disappointed after wasting the talented of Ademola Lookman from Premier League team Everton until several team not give him more minutes playing or become regular position with his previous team before.

The final match was a match for Lookman where he was able to become the best player in the Europa Final match. Indeed, he did not expect that Gian Piero Gasperini would make Lookman an important player in that match, because only Lookman was able to escape the tight guard of Bayer Leverkusen, so that's why Gian Piero Gasperini gave  encourage colleagues and other players to provide Lookman with the ball.

[Republikcoin.com]

but why should they be disappointed the fans have made a great journey but in any case they knew that they would find a fierce team like Atalanta who was surprised is because they are not well informed about Atalanta and the growth path it has had in recent years with gasperini and I assure you that he gave a hard time in Italy to teams much stronger than Bayern Leverkusen having said that I honestly expected an Atalanta victory but certainly not of this magnitude

In fact, some people were also surprised when Atalanta beat Liverpool in the Europa League this season before Atalanta headed to the final match to face Bayer Leverkusen. I was also surprised when I saw that Atalanta was able to overthrow the English team which is also doing quite well in its own domestic league this season. And this happened again to Bayer Leverkusen in the final match which in general was completely beyond many people's expectations because Leverkusen came to the final in a condition that had never lost this season. But Atalanta was able to change that at the end of the League by making Bayer Leverkusen lose in this quite important match.

[TastyChillySauce00]

This could have been the most important success for Bayer Leverkusen, but their undefeated streak ended and they lost the cup. Two sad results came together. It's a sad week for them. However, if we look at the whole season, it was a great season and they only had 1 defeat. We need to congratulate Atalanta and Lookman. It was very difficult to beat this Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen vs Atalanta game taught the vast majority never to underestimate any average club because this particular club is tasty for the big winning and more importantly, in the finals. Bayer Leverkusen lengthy unbeaten streak have come to am end after experiencing shocking defeats against Atalanta in the Europa League final. Xabi Alonso and the rest of the squad didn't see that coming but they have no option than embraced the result.

I hope xabi will be learning a lot from the result against leverkusen. it seems to me that if leverkusen was underestimating its opponent. It can be seen from how xabi alonso was not even putting important player in the club. He was doing some rotations which are also putting his club in very big disadvantages.
Xabi was never facing a club that was playing high press man on man marking like atalanta. No doubt that if xabi has no solution for this. He tried so hard but we must admit that if gesperini used his experience against xabi alonso.

[Lidger]

Atalanta secured a historic 3-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen, clinching their first-ever European trophy. Ademola Lookman stole the spotlight with hat-trick, becoming the first player to achieve this feat in a European final in 49 years. I believe that Coach Gian Piero Gasperini’s intensity and tactical brilliance played a crucial role in Atalanta’s success. Atalanta fans, whose teams are often overshadowed by giants such as AC Milan and Inter Milan, are living a fairy tale. Additionally, Bayer Leverkusen’s impressive 51-match unbeaten run came to an end.

I thought the match against Bayer Leverkusen would be a tough test for Atalanta, but the opposite of what we thought happened in that match. The harder Atalanta prepared, the easier the test was for them, meaning that they easily overcame the hurdles of the Europa League tournament final.  Bayer Leverkusen has had the best performance in their history this season, so we say that this team might be a good contender in the Champions League next season. Real Madrid and Manchester City are among the other league teams but with their performance in the final, it seems foolish to expect anything better from this team in the Champions League. Bayer Leverkusen have performed brilliantly all season so they deserve our welcome.

In this match, Leverkusen may have thought that their opponent Atalanta was not too strong to beat them easily, for which they themselves lost. Bayran Leverkusen may have taken the match against Atalanta in a normal way, but they should have played against the opposition with a strong father and a strong attack against them. Although the match ended with a three-goal margin and Leverkusen lost as the stronger team, they have performed well enough this season, but their tactics have not been good in the last stages. But since Leverkusen is in the best form this season, they will have the opportunity to play in the Champions League for the next season and if they can compete well, they will definitely enter the Champions League at a good stage. But here we must understand that the biggest teams compete in the Champions League, so they have to compete with teams like Manchester City, Real Madrid. In that case, if Leverkusen continues with this performance, they will never be able to enter the Champions League, so they will have to pay more attention to their game.

I don't think Leverkusen found Atalanta an easy opponent because if you look at the quarter-final match you will see that Atalanta defeated the hot favorites of the season Liverpool. If Atalanta had not been able to beat a team like Liverpool, Leverkusen might have found this team to be an easy opponent, but that was not the case. 

Basically in the final match Leverkusen's performance was random, they performed haphazardly from the start and it was because of their poor performance that they were defeated. They could not finish the final match the way Leverkusen had finished the previous matches and were defeated there. However, since the match was the final match of the Europa League tournament, Leverkusen should have made plans more difficult.