Atlas Lion Amine Adli, with his club Bayer Leverkusen, will face Atalanta Bergamo in the Europa League final this Wednesday, May 22. At the Dublin Arena, Xabi Alonso’s players have the opportunity to become part of the club’s legend.
Leverkusen for an epic double or Atalanta for a first? At the end of this final, the history of one of these two clubs will be marked by indelible ink.
Undefeated this season, Bayer Leverkusen are unstoppable. Xabi Alonso’s players did not lose a single one of their last 51 matches and finished as German champions for the first time in the club’s history.
The German club can achieve a more legendary performance by beating Atalanta in the Europa League final. The Vizekusens have already won the UEFA Cup (current C3) in 1988.
For this, Leverkusen will be able to count on its Moroccan player Amine Adli. Brilliant during the double confrontation against AS Roma in the semi-final, the Atlas Lion is the sixth player in the competition with the most players eliminated (24). The native of Béziers could become the fourth Moroccan player in history to lift the cup after Aymen Barkok with Eintracht Frankfurt (2022), Yassine Bounou and Youssef En-Nesyri with Sevilla FC (2020, 2023).
First European trophy in sight for Atalanta
To a lesser extent, Atalanta Bergamo is on a good run in the league: five victories in as many matches. Positioned fifth in the Serie A standings, the Italian club is almost guaranteed to play in the Champions League next season. However, Gasperini’s men lost the Italian Cup final on May 15 to Juventus (1-0).
This season in the Europa League, Atalanta had an impressive run by eliminating Sporting Lisbon, Liverpool (with a resounding 0-3 at Anfield) and Olympique de Marseille of Amine Harit and Azzedine Ounahi.
For the first time in the history of the Italian club, they reached a European final. They finally have the opportunity to lift their first continental trophy.
During the 2021-2022 edition of the Europa League, the two teams faced each other in the round of 16. Atalanta Bergamo emerged victorious from the double confrontation against Bayer Leverkusen, winning twice (3-2, 0-1).
One thing is certain, this meeting will be full of emotions.
