SUPER Eagles forward Ademola Lookman was once again Atalanta’s star man last night, but despite his man of the match performance they were beaten 3-2 by holders Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League clash in Bergamo.
Lookman, who was brilliant throughout the game, struck with a low, hard shot in the second half to reduce Real Madrid’s two-goal lead, but the visitors held on for a tight victory, as the Nigeria international’s superb cross in the dying seconds was not turned in by Mateo Retegui.
Real Madrid opened the scoring with only the second goal conceded by Atalanta in the competition this season, Kylian Mbappe netting in the 10th minute.
Charles De Ketelaere pulled Atalanta level from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time after Sead Kolasinac was brought down in the box.
Real Madrid then scored twice in quick succession in the second half through Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham, before Lookman netted with 25 minutes left on the clock.
The CAF Awards African Player of the Year favourite has now registered 11 goals and five assists in 18 appearances in all competitions for Atalanta this season.
With the result, Atalanta dropped out of the top eight spots guaranteed to advance to the round of 16 to ninth, while Real Madrid climbed to 18th in the 36-team table.
In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen, without their Nigeria striker Victor Boniface, left it late before beating Inter Milan 1-0 at the BayArena.
With Boniface’s Nigeria international teammate Nathan Tella starting, Leverkusen found the breakthrough in the 90th minute through Nordi Mukiele as they rose to second in the table, while Inter slipped to fourth, level on 13 points with the German side.
Another Super Eagles star Raphael Onyedika played the full game for Club Brugge as they came from behind to defeat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 in Belgium, while Paris Saint-Germain thrashed RB Salzburg 3-0 in Austria.
In other Tuesday night Champions League clashes, Bayern Munich demolished their hosts Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1 with Michael Olise scoring twice, as Aston Villa edged out RB Leipzig 3-2 in Germany.
Earlier in the evening, Liverpool maintained their 100 percent record with a 1-0 win at Girona and stay on top of the table, five points clear of the chasing pack.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS
Girona 0-1 Liverpool
Dinamo Zagreb 0-0 Celtic
Atalanta 2-3 Real Madrid
Leverkusen 1-0 Inter
Leipzig 2-3 Aston Villa
Salzburg 0-3 Paris
Shakhtar 1-5 Bayern Munchen
Club Brugge 2-1 Sporting CP
Brest 1-0 PSV
