First Sports: Leverkusen, Atalanta defy odds as underdogs rise in European football

Football has become more about the merit of the rich clubs with more money who buy the best players, get the best facilities in place, and also get the best managers to get the best results but this year has changed all of that. The big giants have had to take a backseat because the underdogs have been on the rise this season.

It wasn’t just one European football club that rewrote the script that has been passed down the ages. The script that whoever spends more, reaps more rewards.

In the Europa League final this season we had Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta fighting it out for the title – two clubs with close to nothing in European history had reached a final. Now if the same two clubs had reached the final last year it would have been a little shocking of course but also probably dull but not this year.

Because this season has seen plenty of surprises.

In the Europa League final, Atalanta defeated Bayer Leverkusen 3-0
to win their first trophy for 61 years
. Ademola Lookman scored all three goals for the Serie A club and became the first player to score a hat-trick in a European final since 1975.

The last time Atalanta won a trophy was the Copa Italia Triumph that came way back in 1963 after which the club spent years in the second division of the Italian League.

Leverkusen, however, shouldn’t be too disheartened as up till the Europa League final, the Xabi Alonoso-coached side was on a record 51-game unbeaten streak that saw them win their
first-ever Bundesliga title
.

Bayer won while fighting against Bayern Munich who had bought Harry Kane and already had a plethora of stars in the squad that had allowed them to win the league for 11 consecutive seasons.

Leverkusen also won the German Cup to do the
league-cup double
.

Another memorable underdog story from the 2023-24 season is that of Borussia Dortmund who have reached the UEFA Champions League final after beating the big-spending Paris Saint-Germain. They will face record 14-time winners Real Madrid in the summit clash on 2 June.

Also in the Bundesliga, VFB Stuttgart finished second, ahead of Bayern, and qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 2010.

Meanwhile, La Liga clubs Girona from Spain and Serie A side Bologna from Italy have also qualified for the Champions League for the first time in the 2023-24 season.

All of these clubs have shown that without money and star power, they can still fight for glory and achieve it. They have shown that football is not just about getting the best players and best coaches for the results, they can also come by grooming the young players, having the best system, and loving the game.