3 Nigerians Who Won UEFA Super Cup As Lookman Eyes History Against Real Madrid

• The UEFA Super Cup final will be played tonight in Poland between Atalanta and Real Madrid
• The opener of the European season is between the Champions League and Europa League winner
• Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman will write more history if he helps Atalanta BC triumph

Real Madrid and Atalanta will face off tonight in the 2024 UEFA Super Cup at the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland.

The official curtain raiser of the 2024/25 European League season is between the previous season's UEFA Champions League and Europa League winners.

Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the UCL final in Paris, while Atalanta stunned unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in Dublin to lift the Europa League.

As noted by UEFA.com, Ademola Lookman scored a hat-trick in the final, thus becoming the sixth player to do so in a European final and the first player in a Europa League final.

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He also became the third Nigerian to score in the Europa League final after Alex Iwobi for Arsenal in 2019 and Joe Aribo for Rangers in 2022, both in losing attempts.

He could make more history tonight by becoming the fourth Nigerian to win the UEFA Super Cup if the Bergamo-based club topple the Spanish giants.

Nigerians who have won the UEFA Super Cup

1. Finidi George

Finidi moved to AFC Ajax in 1993 from Nigerian club Sharks. He was part of the squad that won it all in 1995, including the UEFA Champions League. He also won the Super Cup, scoring in the 4-0 second-leg win over Real Zaragoza.

2. Nwankwo Kanu

Kanu and Finidi were teammates in their three years together at Ajax and won trophies together. The two-time African footballer of the year won the 1995 Super Cup alongside his compatriot, making them the first Nigerians to win the trophy.

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3. Celestine Babayaro

Nigerian footballers in Europe were at their peak in the 90s. Babayaro became the second Nigerian to win the Super Cup when he helped Chelsea beat Real Madrid in the 1998 final, playing the 90 minutes.

As noted by Afrik-Foot, four other Nigerians have reached the final but lost: Chidi Odiah with CSKA Moscow in 2005, Julius Aghaowa with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2009, Victor Moses and Mikel Obi with Chelsea in 2012 and 2013.

Jose Mourinho's Nigerian players

Legit.ng analysed Nigerian footballers who played for Mourinho, including the greatest of them all, John Obi Mikel, who worked with the manager in two spells at Chelsea.

Celestine Babayaro, the first Nigerian to play for Chelsea, was also the first to play for the Special One. He spent one season under the tutelage of the Portuguese.

Source: Legit.ng