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The Nigerian is the only current Atalanta player to have netted against Lecce, and he heads into this weekend keen to retain his spot atop one club statistic.
Ademola Lookman may have suffered Coppa Italia heartache with Atalanta on Wednesday, but the Bergamo outfit’s season is far from over.
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22:07 - 15.05.2024
Atalanta 0-1 Juventus: Heartbreak for Ademola Lookman as Old Lady lift a record 15th Coppa Italia
Nigeria's Ademola Lookman and Atalanta watched as Juventus lifted the Coppa Italia for a record 15th time in Rome.
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13:08 - 12.05.2024
Ademola Lookman, Boniface and 3 players that can dethrone Osimhen's for CAF Player of the Year Award
Napoli put up a poor showing of a title defence this season, and consequently, it is unlikely Osimhen will retain his CAF Best Men's Player Award for another term. We evaluate the players most likely to replace him.
La Dea travel to Stadio via del Mare on Saturday, keen to hold on to fifth spot in Serie A, having opened a three-point advantage on Roma with May 12’s 2-1 win over the capital club.
Wednesday's cup disappointment at Juventus' expense ended the Bergamaschi's seven-game undefeated sequence (six wins), and they seek to right those wrongs against Lupi on Saturday.
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Ademola Lookman stats
Lookman may have been absent for several weeks at the start of 2024 because of Africa Cup of Nations duty with Nigeria, but that has not prevented the forward from being decisive for Atalanta in year two under Gian Piero Gasperini.
The Nigerian has been involved in five goals in 11 appearances for Atalanta since returning from AFCON 2023, scoring twice and supplying three assists in Serie A, a noteworthy return for the 26-year-old, who has not always played from the off as Gasperini has rotated smartly to lessen the workload on his players.
Lookman's influence in the cups have been pivotal in the second half of the season, underlined by the forward overcoming an underwhelming Europa League group stage to contribute the equaliser in the last 16 second leg triumph over Sporting CP and a goal and assist in the decisive semi-final fixture against Marseille.
Despite the Coppa Italia loss to Juventus, the former Leicester City man notched a goal and an assist in the second meeting with Fiorentina in the semi-final, netted the decisive goal and assisted Mario Pasalic moments after to seal a 4-1 success on the night and a 4-2 aggregate victory.
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Lookman has outscored Atalanta teammates since joining the club
Despite his fluctuating game time since returning from Cup of Nations duty, Lookman has netted a respectable nine times and set up three in 29 appearances (20 starts).
Even though the Nigerian’s tally is four fewer than last season’s 13-goal Serie A return, the Atalanta forward’s 22 goals since the start of last season betters every teammate except Teun Koopmeiners, who matches the 26-year-old’s tally across nearly two campaigns in Serie A.
Three of Lookman’s goals this season have been game-winning strikes, only Koopmeiners has more, and the AFCON 2023 runner-up is keen to aid Atalanta’s prospects for a Champions League return on Saturday.
The Nigeria international is the only current La Dea player to have netted against Lecce in Italy’s top division — Rasmus Hojlund (Manchester United), Duvan Zapata (Torino), Josip Ilicic (Maribor), Luis Muriel (Orlando), Ruslan Malinovskyi (Genoa) and Robin Gosens (Union Berlin) are no longer at the Nerazzurri — scoring in the 1-0 triumph at the Gewiss Stadium on December 30 before departing for Nations Cup duty with Nigeria.
A repeat for the Super Eagles man on Saturday will be just what the doctor ordered.
What comes next for Atalanta?
Gasperini’s men have a Europa League final against hitherto undefeated Bayer Leverkusen to look forward to on May 22, but the Bergamaschi could seal a guaranteed Champions League spot this weekend by claiming a win at Lecce.
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