Nigerian forward Ademola Lookman became the first player to score a hattrick in a Europa League final as Atalanta brought an end to Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten season with a 3-0 win in Dublin on Thursday night.

Lookman struck twice in the first half before adding a blistering third to secure a first European trophy for La Dea.

Speaking to TNT Sport after the game Lookman said: “This is one of the best nights of my life. It was an amazing performance from the team, we did it, we did it, we did it! I don’t have much else to say but yeah, fantastic.

“They do always say third time lucky, so yeah it is for us today [winning a final at the third attempt this season]. I’m just happy we won. We won today, so yes very pleased.

“We’ve got to celebrate, we made history tonight,” he said.

His comments were echoed by veteran Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini who told Uefa.com: “I think we wrote history, also for the way we won it.

“It was just extraordinary, we defeated Liverpool, Sporting who won the championship. When we faced Liverpool, they were first in the Premier League… And now the German champions.

“It’s incredible. The boys were extraordinary, a memorable performance.”

Meanwhile, Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich was gracious in defeat, acknowledging that his side deserved to lose on the night. Talking to RTL about their first defeat in 51 games he said: “I would have preferred it to have been some unimportant game. It’s extremely tough to take but we have to be honest with ourselves.

“It was deserved today, so we have to go out with our heads held high and congratulate Atalanta. They definitely deserved it more than us today.”