May 10, (THEWILL) – Gian Piero Gasperini etched his name into Atalanta’s illustrious history, becoming the first manager to guide the club to a European final. La Dea secured their place in the UEFA Europa League showpiece with a convincing 3-0 (4-1 aggregate) victory over Marseille in the semi-final second leg.
With the tie finely balanced after the first leg, Atalanta seized control from the outset, dominating proceedings in an utterly one-sided first half. Despite their superiority, they only held a slender 1-0 lead at the break, courtesy of Ademola Lookman’s deflected strike midway through the opening period.
Marseille had a golden opportunity to level the scores after the restart, but Iliman Ndiaye squandered a gilt-edged chance, blazing over an open goal. Matteo Ruggeri capitalised on the miss, drilling an unstoppable effort into the top corner to put the tie beyond the French side’s reach.
El Bilal Touré added a third in stoppage time with a stylish finish, kickstarting the celebrations as Atalanta booked their place in the final against the still-unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen on May 22. Having already eliminated competition favourites Liverpool, La Dea will approach the showpiece confident of securing just their second-ever major honour.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.