In Palosco, a small town on the outskirts of Bergamo, a birth notice flashed up on one of the street signs. It was the day after Atalanta’s 3-0 win against Marseille in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final “The town hall welcomes the little Lookman,” it announced a newborn child was in the arms of a couple of Atalanta fans Euphoric at becoming parents just as their team reached a first-ever European final their baby was named after one of the goalscorers had caused a lot of kicking and screaming that night with his opener against Marseille Little did he know that his mazy dribble to the edge of the box and slotted far-corner finish had induced a supporter into labour the snowy-haired chairman Antonio Percassi has sent every newborn in the area an Atalanta babygrow Supporting this club is a birthright but it isn’t an expectation. Bergamo lies just an hour’s drive from Milan, where football giants Internazionale and AC Milan European Cup winners on 10 occasions between them The temptation for fans growing up nearby has been to support one of them Atalanta have always got to the little Lookmans early This generation of their fans have never had it so good Older ones remember the club’s previous trophy — in 1963 when a hat-trick from Angelo Domenghini saw off Torino in the Coppa Italia final success was measured by gaining promotion and staying up as Atalanta bounced between the top flight and second division The furthest they’d ever been in Europe until this season was a semi-final in the now-defunct Cup Winners’ Cup Glenn Stromberg was a legend of that team. “Let the suffering begin,” he posted on X before Wednesday’s Europa League final But Atalanta’s coach Gian Piero Gasperini seemed entirely casual about it Denim in Dublin — he coached the game in jeans. Contrary to the nerves and tension among the eight thousand Atalanta fans in the ground, his team appeared even more relaxed and played as if in slippers. They triumphed, 3-0, against a Bayer Leverkusen side who hadn’t lost a competitive match all season; as they did at Anfield in the quarter-finals and against Marseille on the night little Lookman came into the world “Today we put in a wonderful and memorable performance,” Gasperini said Atalanta were beaten in the Coppa Italia final a week earlier by a derided Juventus side. To make matters worse, they lost Marten de Roon to injury in that game The Dutchman has been at the club throughout Gasperini’s eight-year run and is one of the smiling totems of this team when the ultras left a banner outside the training ground In blue and black spray paint it read: “Commitment Gasperini didn’t feel like he needed an actual one to achieve fulfilment either he replied: “I don’t understand what you’re getting at I feel as good a coach now as I did this afternoon.” Charles De Ketelaere and Lookman in attack As a collective display, what followed felt like a lite version of Milan’s 4-0 win against Barcelona in the 1994 Champions League final Lookman not only became this generation’s Domenghini Pierino Prati and Jupp Heynckes in scoring a hat-trick in a European final He went all the way to the Africa Cup of Nations final back in February and then to that Coppa Italia final As the gold and silver ticker tape shimmered on the pitch walked to the end of the stadium housing the Atalanta fans stared at it and saw themselves reflected back: Bergamaschi in ecstasy They have made this club into a sustainable less star-studded version of what Parma represented in the 1990s and it is fitting that Atalanta became the first Italian team since that famous Parma side 25 years ago to lift this trophy Their Gewiss Stadium has been entirely renovated He has already been given the keys to Bergamo Napoli, last season’s Serie A champions Gasperini and their owner Aurelio De Laurentiis famously went for dinner in 2011 where a napkin was signed as a memorandum of understanding and Gasperini took the Inter job instead — a short-lived experience (sacked after just five games) that profoundly marked him up the road in their Inter-like blue and black shirts which even shared Inter’s main sponsor for last night’s final “Winning our way without debts,” he said, rather pointedly on the same day Inter’s owners defaulted on a €395million loan and lost control of the club As Atalanta flew back to Bergamo in the early hours of Thursday morning (Top photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images) James Horncastle covers Serie A for The Athletic. He joins from ESPN and is working on a book about Roberto Baggio. Follow James on Twitter @JamesHorncastle 18+ | Commercial Content | T&Cs apply | Gambleaware.org Ademola Lookman is enjoying a fantastic season in Italy, and one couple have decided to pay homage to the 26-year-old after he fired Atalanta into the Europa League Final He scored the first in a 3-0 thrashing of French side Marseille and his contribution will now forever be remembered within one Italian family a district in Bergamo where Atalanta are based… Somebody named their child after Ademola Lookman following his goal which helped send the Italian club to the Europa League final Football is just amazing. ????? pic.twitter.com/PsDX9jTlMI — EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) May 10, 2024 a district in Bergamo in which Atalanta are located named their recently newborn child after Lookman to celebrate his heroics The forward has been in exceptional form of late and it appears as though his contributions to the team are not going unnoticed Many great players come and go every generation some of whom have of course achieved more within the sport than Lookman only very few players will ever have the privilege of a child being named after them and the former Everton winger likely takes great pride in himself as a result the attacker's return of 12 goals and 8 assists so far this campaign is and therefore may view naming a child after him as generous from an Atalanta supporter's point of view his goals have already made history at the club has helped fire La Dea to their first-ever European Final an array of supporters flocked to social media to voice their opinions the vast majority of which were extremely positive to say “Wow this is a beautiful gesture!” exclaiming that it was “beautiful to see” the phenomenon of naming children after footballers and football clubs is not new and actually happens fairly regularly one couple has previously named their daughter Lanesra which at first will likely leave you puzzled you realise that Arsenal backwards spells… you guessed it – Lanesra The list doesn't stop there and gets even more crazy than that This time you will need to cast your mind back to Leeds United's title-winning side of the 1991-92 campaign with Dominic Andrew Lukic Newsome Fairclough Whyte Dorigo McAllister Batty Strachan Speed Chapman Cantona Cazaux incredibly named after the starting eleven next time you're thinking you've been dealt a bad hand with the name you were given FootballGroundGuide » Latest Football Stadium and Fan News » Italian couple pay tribute to Ademola Lookman with touching gesture