‘Tonight’s performance was a very positive sign’: Lookman inspires Atalanta with goal and assist in Champions League victory

Ademola Lookman played a decisive role in Atalanta’s emphatic Champions League win, scoring and assisting as La Dea struck three times in the space of five minutes to overwhelm Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Nigerian forward opened the scoring on the hour mark before setting up Ederson moments later, with Charles De Ketelaere adding a third almost immediately to seal the contest.

Reflecting on the performance, Lookman admitted patience was key after a first half in which he struck the post and Atalanta missed several opportunities.

‘I think in the first half, we had a few chances. I obviously hit the post as well, so coming out in the second half, we knew we would create chances again and just needed to be patient and wait on that. We did and we then scored three goals pretty quickly. That settled everything down and we got the victory then,’ he said.

The 28-year-old described the night as a turning point for the squad.

‘Tonight’s performance was a very positive sign. The team is feeling a lot more confident now with this victory, so [we need to] continue on like this.’

Lookman’s strike was his first Champions League goal of the season and his sixth in 12 appearances in the competition overall.

He has now scored twice in 12 games across all competitions for Atalanta this season, while also reaching a personal milestone of 130 appearances for the club since joining in 2022.