Ademola Lookman Sets New Champions League Record Despite Penalty Miss for Atalanta

• Ademola Lookman had a mixed night for Atalanta during their UEFA Champions League loss against Club Brugge
• Lookman, who was returning from injury, scored within 36 minutes of coming in but missed a penalty minutes later
• The reigning African Footballer of the Year also set a new Nigerian record in the competition with his goal last night

Ademola Lookman did many things right for Atalanta against Club Brugge, but his penalty miss overshadowed what would have been a brilliant individual night.

Atalanta have struggled in Lookman's absence since he suffered a knee injury before the final group game of the UEFA Champions League against FC Barcelona.

Their struggles continued until the second half of their knockout playoff match against Club Brugge, with Atalanta fish 3-0 before he entered the pitch.

Lookman scored within 36 seconds of coming on and had another goal disallowed, but his night was ruined after missing a penalty in the 61st minute.

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La Dea bowed out of the competition after losing 5-2 on aggregate to the Belgian club, and head coach Gian Piero Gasperini's criticism of Lookman has caused chaos on social media.

The Italian manager was displeased at the Nigerian for taking the penalty, which he missed, while Mateo Retegui and Charles de Ketelarae were on the pitch.

Lookman sets UCL record

Despite the disappearing night, Lookman went home with a record after scoring within a minute of coming on for Atalanta against Club Brugge.

According to EuroFoot, he became the first Nigerian football star to score in four consecutive UEFA Champions League matches with his goal last night.

As noted by Transfermarkt, he has five goals in seven UCL appearances this season, and the last four against Club Brugge, Sturm Graz, Real Madrid, and VfB Stuttgart have come consecutively.

The games he failed to score in the Champions League this season are the ones Atalanta drew 0-0 against Arsenal on the opening day and Celtic and the 6-1 win over Young Boys, in which he was an unused substitute.

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Ademola Lookman's stats this season

Lookman was named Atalanta’s player of the year in his first two seasons in Bergamo, and he peaked last season with a hat trick in the UEFA Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen.

He has continued with impressive performances this season and has 15 goals and seven assists in 28 games in all competitions for Gasperini's team.

He has been so influential that Atalanta won once in six games when he was out due to injury and were knocked out of two competitions, the Coppa Italia and UEFA Champions League.

The only competition left for Atalanta to fight for this season is the Scudetto. They are currently third on 51 points, five points behind league leaders Napoli.

Nigerians slam Gasperini

Legit.ng reported that Nigerians slammed Gasperini after the Italian manager publicly criticised Lookman for missing a crucial penalty against Club Brugge.

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The fans described the manager's words as disrespectful to one of his best players, while a few others claimed it had a racial undertone and the player needed to leave.

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng

Source: Legit.ng