Atalanta vs Leverkusen | UEFA Europa League Final | Pre Match
Atalanta vs Leverkusen
INSIGHTS
Pre Match
1
Bayer Leverkusen have faced Atalanta twice in European competition, with the Italian side winning both legs of a 2021-22 UEFA Europa League last 16 tie. Bayer have only faced Internazionale more often while losing every game in major European competition (three defeats in three games).
2
This is the eighth major European final between a German side and Italian side and first since the 2010 UEFA Champions League final, won 2-0 by Inter against Bayern Munich. In the UEFA Cup/Europa League, it’s the first since 1997 when FC Schalke 04 were crowned champions over two legs against Inter via a penalty shootout.
3
Bayer Leverkusen have reached their third UEFA European final, also featuring in the two-legged 1988 UEFA Cup final against Espanyol (lost 0-3 first leg, won 3-0 second leg, won on pens) and 2002 UEFA Champions League final against Real Madrid (lost 2-1).
4
This will be Atalanta’s first ever European final, becoming the 11th different Italian team to reach a final and first to do so for a first time since Lazio in the 1998 UEFA Cup (lost 3-0 to Inter). This will be 60 years and 261 days since their first European game in September 1963, the longest wait for a side to play in their first a European final from their first game, a record which will be eclipsed in one week by Olympiakos (64 years, 259 days – 1959-2024).
5
Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten in all 12 UEFA Europa League games this season (W9 D3) and are looking to become the fourth side to win the trophy unbeaten, along with Chelsea in 2018-19, Villarreal in 2020-21 and Eintracht Frankfurt in 2021-22, the latter two of which did so in a penalty shootout in the final.
