Mola mia!
In the spring of 2020, when Bergamo becomes the epidemic center in Europe, people will put up such slogans to encourage each other. In the local language of Bergamodang, "Mola mia" means never giving up. A few months later, Atlanta from Bergamo welcomed the challenge of the quarter final of the Champions League with a special belief. They took the lead in the match against Paris, but were scored two goals by the opponent at the last moment. Only three minutes shy of reaching the threshold of the semi-final.
This time, Atlanta made up for the regret in a perfect way. For this blue and black team, the European game is no longer a symbol of "one step short" and "unfulfilled ambition", but represents the most glorious memories. Belgamo people can continue to shout "Mola mia", but this time it is no longer a regional dialect, but standard Italian. Mola mia is "my Mora", my Ademora, Ademora Lukman, the hat trick super forward, and the hero of Bergamo.
Lost Traveler
Fans who don't watch Serie A probably have heard the name of Lukman. He grew up in the English football system and played in Leipzig twice, so his opponent Leverkusen was no stranger to him. The first professional club of Lukeman is Charlton. After he emerged there, he was recruited by Everton at a price of 7.5 million pounds, and ushered in a dream start in the English Premier League in 2016-17: in January 2017, "toffee" beat Manchester City 4-0 at home. The 19-year-old Lukeman put the cherry on the cake, At that time, his team-mates in the front line also had the same young Calvert Lewing, people could not help thinking.
Six months later, Lukman and Calvert Lewin won the U20 World Cup in South Korea. However, after returning to the club, he had few opportunities. Everton wanted to loan him to Derby County, but Lukman had his own idea. He chose to start a new challenge in the Bundesliga and came to Leipzig with the support of Lonnick. Under Hassenchter, Lukman performed well. In his debut against Menxing, he was a substitute and made contributions. In 11 appearances in half a season, he scored 5 goals and completed 4 assists, with amazing efficiency.
After returning to Everton and wasting another year, Lukman chose to return to Leipzig, this time to officially join. However, in Nagelsmann's team, he could not get the opportunity as before, and almost sat on the bench all season. After that, Lukeman returned to England, regained his feeling in front of the goal in Fulham and Leicester City, and also encountered awkward moments: in November 2020, Fulham played West Ham United away, Hammer midfielder Shocek broke the deadlock in the first minute of injury stop time, Fulham got a penalty at the last moment, Lukeman stood in front of the ball, and he chose the most daring way of taking the main penalty, The spoon that could be kicked out was taken by Fabianski, who was still in front of the door.
Blue and Black Ferry
In the summer of 2022, Atlanta recruited Lukman and only paid 9.35 million euros for the transfer. At the same time, Lukman, who knew that he would not be selected for the England team after all, also chose to wear the Nigeria shirt. Although he has quite good potential, he has never shown a stable good state, and the outside world does not think that Lukeman can become the leading role of the team immediately: he does not have Zapata's body, Muller's sense of the ball, Boga's speed and Malinowski's accuracy, how can he occupy a place in the front court of the "goddess"?
Lukman quickly gave the answer with performance. In the first round of the league against Samp, he scored after coming on as a substitute. People thought of his debut in Leipzig a few years ago. However, this time, Lukman finally became more versatile, versatile and persistent, and ushered in his magic moment in January 2023: first, he destroyed the other side's defense line in the game against Salernitana, helping the team win 8-2, and then became the absolute protagonist in the 3-3 draw at Juventus a week later, with two goals and one assist in both games. During the Italian Cup match, he scored two more goals, and Atlanta eliminated Spezia 5-2. In a magical week, "True Blue and Black" scored 16 goals in three games, and Lukman contributed half of them.
Lukman is also lucky. Last season, Atlanta's front line just experienced a change: Zapata took on too many tasks, his body was quickly attacked by frequent injuries, and the state of Muller also declined sharply. Malinowski never really adapted to Gasperini's speed 100%. Pasalic's ability to play the ball was obviously weak, and he could only be used as a wonder. In such an environment, Lukman got and seized the opportunity. He showed an excellent sense of rhythm and shooting skills in front of the goal, and became the number one striker of "True Blue Black" in fact, helping the team withstand a period of youth and youth shortage with his performance. In the second half of the league, Lukman's firepower weakened, and the younger Hoellen suddenly emerged, and the connection between them was quite smooth.
Super Individual Show
This season, Atlanta has become well armed, with fierce competition in the front and middle court. As Skamaka's state in the sprint stage of the season is extremely hot, his combination with De Ketelare and Copminas has become the main frontcourt configuration on the paper of Atlanta. However, Gasperini knows that Lukman's speed, breakthrough and attacking space ability are still indispensable for the team. From the second round of the Europa League semi-final against Marseille to the final in Dublin, he insisted on putting Lukman in the starting line-up, and did not hesitate to let the absolute core Kepu Minas retreat - this decision received the most generous reward.
In the home victory over Marseille, Lukman scored the first goal for the team and made great contributions to the passing; To destroy Leverkusen, Lukman interprets real personal heroism and plays the whole middle and back court of the pharmaceutical factory. Before opening the record, he saw the opportunity of Sapa Costa's cross and moved to Palacios first; The score was expanded by the own goal assist from Adeli's header return. Lukman first crossed the crotch over Zaka, and then directly stood up against Tapsoba, scoring goals with extremely fast speed and sharp angles; To kill suspense, he received a pass from Skamaka and challenged Tapsoba again on the left. He accelerated and shot hard, this time it was the world wave of the left foot!
It is no exaggeration to say that Lukman's performance on the night of Dublin is one of the most powerful individual shows in the final in European history. For more than half a century, only four players have been able to wear hats in the European final before. They are...... Distifano, Puskas, Prati and Heinz. Lukeman looks for opportunities in the restricted area, dribbles the ball at high speed from the deep area, meets his teammates on the frontcourt sidelines, and attacks the goal from all directions. Lukeman dribbles, changes direction, accelerates. Lukeman shoots - with left foot or right foot? His attacking style is so diverse that it is difficult for you to carry out effective targeted defense.
Just over three months ago, Lukman was still in a deep sorrow at the night in Abidjan. His Nigeria was defeated by host Kotediva in the African Cup final. One hundred days is enough time for him to move from failure to success. Going back to 2016, when Lukman was still a new star of Charlton, team coach Carl Robinson took him to Wembley to watch Spurs' Champions League match on the spot. Lukman was born in a Nigerian family in Greater London. He grew up in a very poor family. Coach Robinson believes that this child can see his own shadow in Del Ali.
The direction of the story is unexpected. Ali has ruined his career in the end, while Lukman is making steady progress. The Nigerian has a unique family name (Lookman literally translates as "looking at men"), and therefore has developed his own unique way of celebration: put his hands on his eyes, and make the "telescope" action - he even showed a yellow card in the Italian championship game by the confused referee Duoli! Now, the former "spectator" of the Champions League group match has become the protagonist of the Europa League final.
Shen Tianhao, Special correspondent of Titan Sports Weekly in Italy
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